Somewhere
by rijane
Summary: The Granolith takes off during Departure, taking not only the Royal Four but Liz, Maria, and Kyle with them, forcing a final showdown with Khivar
1. Parts 1 thru 6

Title: Somewhere (C/C, post-Departure, PG-13)

Author: rijane

This starts in the middle of the episode (though the "past" has been changed to suit the author's whims ;) I've got the quote at which the episode veers from Katims' delightful delusion, everything til then has happened (the Leanda debacle, the Isabel and Alex dance, the partial flashes of Alex that Kyle gets, the jeep going over the cliff in flames).

Comments and suggestions welcome, since this is my first foray into Roswell fanfic.

"I can't believe this is happening. I-I just can't even believe it's possible!" Maria looked at Liz's sprawling form and joined her on the bed.

"Um, hmm." Liz absently wiped at the last smudges of mascara on her face. She'd long gotten rid of the raccoon look, but anyone looking long enough could tell that she had been crying.

They heard Amy's voice from the other room. "Larek. He says his name is Larek, and he's an alien. Who is Larek?"

"My mom." Maria and Liz hopped from the bed to the room where Amy had begun to speak.

"And he's taken over this whole place. And he's holding us hostage here with a gun. He's pointing a gun at my daughter. He threatened my daughter."

"Mom, Mom what's wrong?" Maria's eyes met Liz and they already knew that something in her mother's mind had come apart.

"Maria? What are you doing up, it's the middle of the night. And Liz? What are you still doing here?" With that, her fingers began the strange beat that Kyle had done just hours earlier. The strange beat that-

"It's Tess! Tess mindwarped Alex!" Liz hopped up and was already racing out the door.

"What?" Maria snagged the Jetta keys, only a few steps behind.

"And Kyle! Look, we've got to go now!"

Within just minutes, far less that it should have taken Maria to make it the ten miles across town, they were at the Valenti's. Liz's foot began tapping in an absent rhythm while Maria twisted her rings, wishing she still used cedar oil. Or had some kind of chemical sedative. They barely paused to rap on the door and burst into the house, where they found Kyle staring absently at the now empty room that Tess had taken over. The sheets were stripped and the entire room had the feel of a used motel room. The dingy mirror Kyle was leaning against just reinforced the appearance.

"No, there's no way I've been mindwarped. I'd remember it. And I just... I'd know if Tess had." Kyle paused. "She wouldn't."

"Kyle, that's the whole point of being mindwarped. You don't know that it's happening to you." Maria gave him the look she usually reserved for Michael's greatest moments of stupidity.

"So I'm supposed to look around the room and what?"

"I don't know, see if you have an unusual response to anything." Liz could feel the desperation slip into her voice. She could almost feel the hum building, a storm about to break. They had to be close to the moment that the Granolith would reach its full strength and end this chapter forever. Kyle swept the room, brushing his palms over the bed, the mirror, the dresser. As he stared with intent at the empty closet, then the disheveled bed, he began tapping his fingers on the laquered dresser.

"Liz..." Maria started.

"Sorry, nothing." Kyle kept staring at the bed with intent.

"Kyle, it could be really close, so keep looking, keep trying." Liz placed her fainly shaking hand in his.

Kyle's head snapped back suddenly. His eyes saw Tess's tear streaked face where Liz now stood. Flashes of Tess's pale skin against his tawny muscles ripped through his mind. Of her tears that had led to something more.

"Screw Buddhism, I think I'm going to start Tessism. It's basically just me, worshipping you. Is that okay with you?"

She was hurt, she was tired, and she needed him. In this room, on this bed. He had held her, he told her haltingly that he loved her. At least that time he had. Before Alex had, before they had-

The world veered on the axis and he now hesitantly snaked his hand out to the small bulge of her stomach. He spoke, repeating the words he now remembered.

"It's okay, Max will understand. And we can- I'm working, I'll do whatever it takes."

"Kyle, this isn't the typical unexpected teen pregnancy," Tess tried to keep the terror and bitterness out of her voice. When she had control, she began again. "I was born to be a mother, it was all part of my destiny. That's not the problem. You don't understand. If they find out, the Skins, the Dupes, anyone from Antar, we'll all be summarily executed, no questions asked. You, me, the baby. It's treason. You defiled the queen, I betrayed the King. And the child," she paused trying to maintain her erstaz equilibrium. "He'll be an abomination to them. An unacceptable- we can't let anyone know what happened. We have to find a way to make this okay. We have to. We have to get the baby out of here."

Liz stared at her friend, in his own world. "Kyle, what will Max understand? Tell us, fast!"

"It's okay. I'll do anything to get you, to get him to safety," Kyle leaned in and stroked Liz's hair, seeing golden cascades where the brunette locks now were. He planted a kiss on her forehead and intended to add another to her lips.

"We'll have to." Tess gave him her own kiss. "We need to get Alex. There's a book that Nascedo gave me..."

Hazy images of Alex, the book, the dorm that he had found at the campus and the pictures that Tess had created, sending the delivery guy. Knowing that Tess would have to erase from his mind what they were doing every night. An almost dreamlike interwoven pattern of dreams, of lies, of reality, of mindwarps that had so distorted the truth. Until life snapped into a vivid moment of shock as Kyle remembered her voice.

"Kyle," Tess's voice rang clear in his ears now and Kyle realized with a gasp that she was about to break both their hearts. "I'm just your sister. There is no baby. You need to go to work now. I'll take care of the mess."

"Bye, Tess. Tell Dad I'll be home by nine." Kyle made a move for the door, but Liz had to catch him as he almost tumbled. They both sank to the floor as another wave of memories crashed over him.

"What's going on?" Maria screeched as she tried to pull him up.

"He's remembering," Liz whispered. "He's remembering it all."

"You did this to me, you sent me to Las Cruces," Alex's cracking voice seemed to echo through the room.

"Okay, Alex, Alex let me fix your mind, you're not thinking straight." Tess rose awkwardly from the bed. Kyle couldn't figure out why she looked so scared, why seemed so intent on stopping Alex from speaking.

"You mindwarped me for two months while I decoded that damn book for you and now there's nothing left for you to mindwarp. You destroyed my mind! How could you do this to me?" Alex moved toward Tess with a feral look in his eyes. Before Kyle could react, Alex had pushed Tess to the floor. The blond lay there, unmoving in the fetal position. Her voice came faintly. "Kyle, get out."

"What's going on? Tess, what's wrong? What's happening, what did you do to Alex?"

"Kyle go!"

"I have nothing, I might as well be dead," Alex slammed his fist against the wall. It came away bloody, with the wood cracked. He hit again. Again. Then he moved forward, toward Tess.

"Hey just calm down!" Kyle pushed Alex back to the dresser.

"He's right, okay." Tess winced from her position. She tried to make contact with his eyes, her voice calm and persistent. "Calm down! Just calm down!"

"No, you can't mindwarp me!" Alex charged again as his eyes began to glaze over. Kyle threw himself between the two and just managed to catch Alex as he collapsed and hit his head on the corner of the dresser. The dark purple stain quickly spread over his temple and onto the floor. Kyle leaned in, but there was no pulse. The damage had already been done.

"No," Tess whispered. "I didn't mean to. It was never meant to go this way. I just needed to, we needed to get the baby away from here. To-"

"Tess, what's happening?" Kyle blinked. "What's wrong with him?"

"Don't worry, Kyle." Tess was sniffling and Kyle just wanted to hold her, torn between this sisterly feelings that didn't quite feel right and an almost instinctual yearn for her. "We can take care of this."

"It was Tess!" Liz's voice finally shook him from the reverie and his eyes focused on her, on Maria, on the now empty room.

"No, she didn't. We didn't mean to. We had to protect our baby. We've got to get to the Granolith. I can't let her go!"

Part 2

The Roswell desert sped by the Jetta windows as all three humans inside fidgeted, fretted, and could barely keep themselves from trying to hop out and run to the Granolith.

"How much further?" Liz questioned, despite knowing exactly where the Granolith was. But she could feel the minutes slip by, something was building. Something much more than a static charge in the air around them. Liz felt as though she could fly off with the ship at any moment.

"We're gonna make it, aren't we?" Maria pressed the gas pedal to the floor, the speed limit be damned. When they saw the smoke from the Jeep curling from the canyon, Liz gave a screech.

"Just a little more." Silence came over the Jetta as they trained their eyes on the looming rock face. When the little car could get no further, they tumbled out and raced up the hill.

***********  
The shadows on the pod chamber gave everyone a strange look, one of distance, of ill intent. With a last look at Isabel's teary face and Max's stony determination, Michael let out a sigh. He knew, the way Maxwell did two years ago, that things had irrevocably changed.

"Max... I can't go. Ever since we came out of the pods, I've been on some quest to figure out where I belong. I finally found home. The weird thing is, it's here, it's on earth."

"You of all people." Max knew. He stepped forward to give his parting friend and brother a hug. "Take care of yourself, Michael. I love you."

"You're a great brother." Michael hesitated to let go.

"Take care of the others." Translation: Liz. Max looked to his sister, who was unable to keep the tears from falling. Her face had no makeup except for the faint black smudges around her eyes. If Antar wanted Vilandra, they would be disappointed. Izzy might be regal, but she could never be the cold ice queen that the Skins claimed she had been. "I would understand..."

"What you said before, you're my home too." The tears disappeared in resolve. Michael backed toward the exit, not quite able to look away for the last time.

"Well, whoever is coming, we have to go. Now." Tess leaned against the column, her face suddenly tired. The air around her seemed to flicker and for a second, Maxwell thought she looked... different. He gave a shake of his head, just the light. When he looked back to the door, Michael was gone. It was just the three of them. But the wrong three.

Outside the Granolith, Kyle was pounding the rock wall and Liz clawed at the cracks in the surface. Maria had ripped the brush away from the ground.

"Let us in, damn it!" Maria swung her fist and almost hit Michael as the rock suddenly opened.

"What a welcome home!" Michael looked shocked to see all three of them outside the ship. Without a word of explanation, Kyle and Liz raced past him. "Hey!"

"We've gotta go after them, Michael! It's not Max's baby!" Maria pulled him back into the darkness. In just seconds, breathing heavily, they caught up with Liz and Kyle at the entrance to the chamber. With a wave of Michael's hand, they were in.

"Liz?" Isabel was the first to catch sight of the group. Max's head snapped up, but Tess remained crouched on the floor, only a slight air of impatience in her carriage.

"What are you guys doing here? The ship will launch in-" he glanced at the timer.

"Four minutes," Liz answered his inquiry without even looking at the panel. "Tess isn't carrying your baby."

"What?" Max looked at the blond on the floor.

"It's not yours!" Liz moved to Max. She slipped her hand into his.

"Then whose is it?"

"It's mine." Kyle took a step closer to Tess, but hesitated as Max stood between the two of them.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Michael watched the timer spin down. "And we need the Reader's Digest version."

"I'm tired," Tess tightened her face and let out a noise of pain. "Tired of lying."

Dizziness washed over the group and, after one long blink, they all saw Tess on the floor, leaning on her elbows with sweat shining on her face. The bulge on her stomach was much larger than she had claimed with Max, but didn't look more than five or six human months along.

"I never meant to go to Antar," she paused with the beginning of the next contraction. It crashed over her and was gone far more quickly than it should have been. "We can't. None of us. We're no longer wanted there. Our followers are just a small band of extremists who've put us on a pedestal. Khivar's a psychopath who'll probably kill us for trying to usurp his place and our own loyalists, the only ones on Antar who would be willing to protect us from 'The Revolution,' will kill us for tainting the bloodlines. I've been violated by a human, Max has taken a common human to his heart and probably to his bed. They'll smell it on Michael. But if I don't leave, my baby, our baby will die," Tess met the eyes of Kyle, the only one looking at her sympathetically. "I knew it the moment I knew about him. That he could barely live inside me. And he would never be able to live on Earth. So I had to-"

"To what, Tess?" Maria gripped Michael, shaking with rage. "To kill Alex? How does that fit in with your plan?"

"We didn't mean to. I tried to get him back. To use the stones," a sharp inhalation. Tess stopped her story and bit down on her lip hard. Kyle moved to her, took her hand. Max backed closer to Liz, to the door. "But I couldn't do much. If we'd had an Antarian healer or more time... It's my fault, but there's still hope if we can just get to- Aaah!" a shriek erupted. "It's early, too early," she moaned.

"She's telling the truth!" Kyle watched, trying not to shove Max to the ground and shake the truth into him. Tess and the baby's time was slipping away. "We didn't mean to."

"What do you mean 'we?'" Liz looked sadly at Kyle.

"I was there. I helped to, to make Alex translate the book. We needed someone who already knew about the alien abyss so not that many memories had to be rewritten. He fell and-"

"Did you kill Alex?" Max delivered the question point blank to the couple on the floor.

"I didn't mean to, I'd give anything if I hadn't. I thought I could just have him translate the book and then I'd disappear one day. But his mind, something happened. I was scared, so we hid what happened." air hissed through Tess's teeth. "Look, there's a healer on Nascedo's home world who is still loyal to our families. If we can just leave here, maybe we can fix things. Try to trust me a little." Tess finally sounded like the scared, pregnant teenager she was. "If my son is born in this atmosphere, without the air he needs, he'll be dead. Just like Alex. I'm begging you, please don't add an innocent life to this!"

"Look, Max, the clock's ticking, we don't really have time..." Michael just inches from the exit, with Maria close to him. "Either we let her go or we go with her."

Max looked at Tess, who was now past the point of talking, and Kyle as he tried to wipe away the sweat and keep her conscious. Liz's hand squeezed his, but wasn't about to move until he did. Isabel kept her eyes on her brother as the group seemed trapped in a frozen tableau. No one could move until Max did.

"Fine. Go." At that, the five scrambled for the exit. Kyle turned to coaxing Tess to make it the remaining minute until blast off.

Michael's hand swiped over the panel, but the door didn't appear. Max shoved through and ran his palm over the door. Nothing. A wild desperation appeared in his eyes.

"No." He and Michael gave one look and blasted the wall with a burst of sparks and heat.

Nothing.

"Thirty seconds!" Liz backed up and rammed the space with the full weight of her small body. Again, then a sickening pop from her shoulder stopped her. Michael and Max repeated their fireworks and then rammed the door as Liz had, with much more force. Isabel began clawing at the panels, pushing any button that could possibly be linked to the door, running her open palm over all the blank surfaces.

"Nonononononono," hysterical laughter came from Maria, who'd backed away from the immobile door. Their ears suddenly popped and a feeling, like going up in an elevator, came over them. Liz stared at Max and wrapped her good arm around him

"It's too late. We've already gone."  
A/N For creative purposes (plus I think it was a stupid way to do things in Departure), the Granolith powers the ship, but the ship itself is similar to what they showed in "Control."

Besides, would you travel across the galaxy in a beam of light? I don't think so :)

Part Three

It might have sunk in more if the Granolith had had convenient windows to see Earth growing small behind them or the stars rushing by. But, except for the popping and a flash of light, they could hardly tell that the ship had moved. Once the Granolith had established its own atmosphere, Tess's pain appeared to have stopped and she slipped into unconsciousness with Kyle's arms wrapped around her.

Max sat quietly in the corner nursing Liz and trying to heal her dislocated shoulder while Maria and Michael were talking quietly. Isabel crouched near Kyle and Tess and studied the nearby control, hoping to make some sense of them.

"What I wonder is where the bathroom is? And what are we supposed to eat?" Maria asked.

"Ria," Michael looked down at her serious green eyes. He planted a kiss on her nose. "I have absolutely no idea."

"Let's go look. This is important stuff. Especially if you knocked me up, too, Spaceboy." Maria headed down the hall.

"Don't even joke about that!" Michael scrambled after her.

From the opposite side of the room, conveniently blocked by the Granolith and their words under its hum, Max slowly moved his hands away from Liz's shoulder. The silver handprint peeked from her collar. Hesitant to stop touching her, he moved behind her and began to massage her shoulders.

"Do you think, maybe, that you and Tess didn't..." Liz was afraid to voice her hope, as if sayng the words would jinx it.

"If she's that far along," Max watched Kyle run his hands through Tess's flat curls and his uncertain hands brush her stomach. If it was his son, then Kyle had likely never gotten to feel him. "I don't think that we could've, or that I could have without noticing. But I just don't know. The memories feel real and I... I don't know. I hope not," Max buried his face against her neck, softly whispering apologies.

"It's okay," Liz turned around to look into his open amber eyes. "Right now, I think I could live on hope alone."

Max and Liz leaned in, wanting to fall in to the other with a kind of desperation. Their kisses gained in intensity, almost too much, when Maria and Michael came flouncing back into the chamber.

"Apparently Antarians can construct a ship to travel across the universe, genetically engineer their Royals, exert mind control, and have all kinds of fun powers, but they can't improve in the air bathrooms. It's a tube, with a lid. And food- looks like we've got some gum, Lifesavers, and crackers from my purse, some stuff I think Tess packed, and this weird blackwrapped shi-"

"Freeze-dried nutrient packs." Michael looked at Max, whose reddened ears told him that the lovebirds had been dealing with more than Liz's shoulder. "And three rooms. The one closest to the chamber must have been for the bodyguards- a control panel, some kind of screen, two beds, looks comfortable, but not much else. Looks like the other two are the Royal suites. The loyalists definitely knew how to do the finery, sparkling purple crap all over the place and girly as heck."

"Dibs on a Royal Room!" Maria was not to be argued with.

"Do we know how long it will take for the ship to reach Antar or wherever we're going? We'll probably have to ration."

"Not long, a few days," Liz answered.

"What's with you knowing this stuff?" Maria looked askew at her friend.

"I don't know, I just do. Guess that's one more question to pose to Sleeping Beauty when she wakes up," Liz looked at Kyle, who'd ducked his head and attempted to avoid much conversation.

"Let's put Tess and Kyle in the bodyguard room since its nearest. And Maria, Liz, and Iz in one of the Royal Rooms, you and me in the other one." Max eyed Tess and then addressed Kyle. "Can we move her?"

"I can move myself," Tess opened her eyes. "I'm awake and the labor's stopped. He's okay."

"Let's get her to a bed, then she has some questions to answer." Max and Michael came over, but Kyle had already lifted her, against a half-hearted protest from Tess, and was edging to the door.

After they had set her on one of the beds, which would have been too small if Tess hadn't been so short. Kyle propped her against the wall with the pillows from both beds. He then sat on the edge and prepared for the questions from the rest of them.

"What's going on, Tess? Why did you two kill Alex? And what's happening?" Liz unsuccessfully tried to keep the demanding the tone out of her voice. She, Max, and Isabel sat on the opposite bed while Maria and Michael sat on the bench in front of the control panel.

"I never meant for any of this to happen. But Kyle and I, we got pregnant and I had to get off this planet. And it all just went downhill from there."

"When did you and Kyle get together?" Isabel questioned.

"Before Liz and Kyle... and after." Tess looked down at her stomach. "But I think it happened before."

"Liz and I never really had sex," Kyle looked at Max. "She asked me to pretend and I asked Tess to let me. We didn't want to mess with destiny and this might have gotten you and Tess together. Who knew what kind of stuff would happen if you two didn't. At least, that's what we thought then."

"But you still hadn't quite warmed up, not yet. Before we went to the city, I knew that I was pregnant and I knew that the baby was having trouble. I guess I kind of hoped it would go away." Tess's cheeks flamed and she looked down. "But he stayed alive and I, I changed my mind. But I knew I'd have to leave Earth and I explained to Kyle. If our followers found out, they would kill Kyle for defiling the queen, me for betraying the King, and they would never let me have the baby. Blood purity was very important for the Royals. Even if the loyalists didn't get us, and they would, Khivar will kill us all on sight.

"So, I thought maybe in New York, I could get Max to...and that way we'd be able to say it was his and we could leave the planet under the protection of our people. After the summit, that blew up in my face. I went home and told Kyle that somehow we had to figure out a way to leave the planet on our own and that Max still had to come with me. It was... easier if Kyle didn't come."

"I don't remember much. It's kind of blurry." Kyle squeezed Tess's hand and looked at the group. "But we made Alex translate it. Set up the dorm room and the book and the computers. Tess mindwarped me so that I wouldn't know, made me think of her as a sister so it wouldn't hurt when they left. Because I couldn't go with them." He stopped, unable to speak.

"Alex translated it and it showed how the ship worked. Then the ship had star charts, information that Max and Isabel's mother didn't give us." Tess lifted her chin and, for the first time during her explanation, looked each of the others in the eye. Her tone became soft and easy, less forced. "It was all going according to plan. And Max was coming around. But then Alex, he came to our house and surprised me. Something went wrong."

"He was angry," Kyle continued. "And he was shouting. Tess tried to fix the damage she'd done, but he lost control and passed out. When he fell, he hit his head on the corner of the dresser. I checked but there was no pulse. I don't know whether the mindwarp did it or the fall. We tried the healing stones, we tried to bring him back. It was just too late."

"But there is something we can do," Tess spoke and Kyle looked surprised. "Kyle, go over to the control panel and hit the green button. He did as she said. An amber tube slid out from what had been a seamless wall. "In that is some of his hair, and a blood sample, and some skin cells. I think there's probably a viable sample in there."

"Tess, how can that bring Alex back?" Isabel's voice cracked.

"Did you ever stop to think that it wasn't coincidence that this group formed? That you were with Max? That I went to Kyle? That we formed the relationships that we did? It's not. We've danced this dance before."

"Like Buddha says we repeat our lives until we remove our wants on this plane of existence?" Tess smiled at Kyle and wanted to give him a kiss for so quickly accepting what she had to say.

"Yes. Please press the button again." The tube slid back into its compartment

"You mean reincarnation?" Liz looked skeptical.

"Yes. People's essences are recycled in the universe. It's just that we usually don't remember consciously and people usually don't have access to the genetic memory that Max, Isabel, Michael, and I do. If we tap into that, we can remember our last life. And that's what our supporters wanted. The mystics and the scientists on Antar found a way to guide the spirits, if they had the DNA and the spiritual memory, and the right triggers."

"That can't be true. The population on Earth has increased exponentially over the centuries. There are more bodies than essences," Max challenged her.

"That's true, but the population of Antar has been decreasing rapidly. Not all of the essences come from Earth," Tess gave a pointed stare at Maria and Liz. "Case in point."

"You've got to be kidding," Maria laughed out loud. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Nascedo was teaching me how to get it, the way I was trying to teach Max. I can access parts of my genetic memory and I... recognized you. All of you. At first it was just like deja vu. Now, little things come to me. That Maria did something with art, I think. I'm pretty sure that Liz and I sometimes really didn't like each other, but we never hated each other either. I know that we've all been together before. Plus, the four of us have genetic markers. And now Liz..."

"What about Liz?" Max stared at Liz.

"You changed her. On a basic level that day in the Crashdown. When you healed her, your subconscious knew who she used to be and used that DNA knowledge as a reference. She's been slowly changing ever since as the DNA had spread and rewritten parts of the sequences. It's given her access to some of her genetic memories. That's why the flashes, and the out of body experience in New York. And knowing things..."

"What's going to happen to her?" Max's grip on Liz tightened.

"I don't know for certain. I don't think anything bad. Just changes. Antarian and human DNA have more similarities than differences. We've been cross-breeding for generations. She'll probably end up a hybrid somewhere on the spectrum, like one of us. But you'd need to see an Antarian healer to know for absolute certain."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Max's anger was beginning to guide him.

"I was out of options, Max. I had to get off the planet and I was pretty sure that Liz would be okay. This time, this life, I had to worry about me." Tess looked directly at her former husband. "You don't know, you don't remember last time. I threw myself on the sword for our people, for a lost cause and it won't happen again."

"If Liz is going to be okay, let's deal with one issue at a time. How does any of this help us get Alex back?" Maria repeated Isabel's question.

"I got some clean samples of Alex's DNA and his essence hasn't had enough time to move on yet. He's either on the earthly plane or nearby. Plus, they know how to use the triggers. If we can get it to the right people, they can do what they did for the Royal Four, but he wouldn't be a hybrid. They can recreate Alex himself."

Part 4a

"The real Alex?" "What do you mean?" "How long would it take?" The room erupted into questions and a general tumult.

"They can do for him basically what they did for us and completely clone his body, age him using the pods, and then the mystics can do their stuff, plus use the genetic triggers to make him remember consciously what his subconscious already knows." Tess's eyes shut heavily for more than a blink. She opened them and continued. "If we weren't hybrids, we could easily remember most of our lives before. But the human DNA was much more assertive than they thought it would be. It prevents us from totally accessing it physically. We can use meditation and some other techniques to reach it, though."

"How do you know all this?" Michael gave her a skeptical look.

"Some of it Nascedo taught me, some of it was in the book and the rest I found on the ship. There are programs that were meant to teach us this stuff if things had all gone according to plan. I can show all of you how to use them and you can see for yourself. There's a nice, long and boring documentary on the making of hybrids." Tess's eyes closed for a bit longer. Kyle gently nudged her. "I'm sorry, I can barely keep my eyes open. There are some history files, some science, and other ones. I don't know how accurate the history is, our followers wrote it. If you want to run some of the programs, go to the control station in the Granolith chamber. Press the silver seal next to the dark purple square. Every damned thing in this ship is frickin' purple. Place your hand on the column and it should just run itself. I think you can all use it at once."

"Guys, she can tell us more later, but for now she's gotta rest," Kyle became assertive as a deep sleep tried to claim Tess. "I'm going to sit with her."

"Thank you," Tess murmured.

"Shh."

The rest of the group filed out of the room as quickly as they could and Max waved his hand in the general vicinity of the entrance. After the third or fourth try, he found the appropriate area and the door slid shut.

"This is going to take some getting used to." Max looked at Isabel and leaned in to give her a hug. "We'll be okay. Everything will be okay."

"I know," Isabel slid into her controlled personna. "We need to check out the rooms and figure out how everything works around here. Best to do that first." She took off down the hall and entered the room furthest from the center chamber.

"Let's give her a second." Max headed to the next room and waved his hand in the same area that had worked on Tess and Kyle's. "See, learning already."

Max left the door open for Isabel and they entered to the room to find a small variation from the rest of the ship: purple and silver. The room was at least twice as large as the other room, with a large bed decorated in purple, velvety cloth. The headboard was lined in silver and featured prominently the royal seal. There was also a smaller bed across the room, conceivably for attendants. Most of the objects, though looking quite elegant and important, with the exception of a control panel similar to the other, were not quite identifiable. A curtained off area with its own set of controls might have been a bathing device.

"The other one looks pretty much the same as this," with that, Michael tossed himself onto the bed. He looked up at Maria with a wicked smile on his face. "Deja vu, all over again, huh, honey?"

"Except this would be a very *expensive* porno version of Aladdin." Maria smiled and perched herself on the bed next to Michael's head. She began running her hands through his hair like he was her security blanket. Liz meandered over to the stretch of blank wall with a series of small black squares, about the size of her thumb. She experimentally ran hers over it and a compartment slid open. Max could see her mind trying to figure out how every part of the ship functioned, avoiding the emotional bombshell Tess has dropped on her.

"Wow." Liz lifted a dress that featured an ever-changing shade of purple cloth. "Guess I found the royal clothes."

"We have to talk about what Tess told us." Max looked at the other three. "Do you think we can trust her?"

"Hell, no," Michael said from his comfortable position. "I don't think we can trust her any further than Maria could throw her."

"Hey!" Maria slapped him upside the head.

"But I do think that it's the truth." Michael sat up, serious now. "You and Liz connected, and Maria and I have. I think, I think that I recognize her on some basic level. It's sort of hum in the back of my head when we connect. The way I can just tell you and Iz are family. I've seen her, inside, and I know that Maria and I know each other. I was going to stay because I was that sure."

"You were going to stay for me," Maria said softly.

"Yeah," Michael looked into her teary eyes. "Annoying as you are, I think I love you."

"So, where is this ship headed?" Liz veered away from the weepy make out session that the other two were headed for and closed the drawers. "We're not really going to Antar, are we?"

"I can try to change the navigation controls, but even if I could read them, I don't know the difference between the planets. It might be one of the five or she could have us headed for some other inhabited planet." A deep sigh slipped out of Max and he plopped down on the smaller bed. "Things changed so quickly."

"I know," Liz joined him. They sat in comfortable closeness for the first time in months, thighs barely grazing each other. Liz leaned her head on Max's shoulder. "Max, you left a video, but what are *our* parents going to think. We have no idea how long we'll be gone."

"This is going to kill my mother." Maria looked serious. "She's going to be all alone. With Sean."

"Jim will probably, you know, take care of her." Michael reassured her. "Maybe he'll figure out what happened, with the Jetta at the cave and you all gone."

"I had the chance to tell her something, anything. She was remembering the stuff at the UFO museum with Larek, that's how we knew that Kyle had been mindwarped. And now she's going to be completely messed up because of me. What if her mind falls apart or something?" though not in her eyes, but they could hear the tears in Maria's voice.

"Ria, she'll be okay. Maybe we'll be gone for just a few days. Drop off the lying blond bitch and hightail it for Earth," Michael, still unaccustomed to casual physical contact, gave her a hesitant and brief hug.

"We need to decide what we're going to do. If Liz is right, we're going to be near Khivar's territory, with the Granolith, in a few days."

Liz cocked her head to the side. "Three days and about ten hours, Max."

"Lizzy, how are you *doing* that?"

"I'm not sure, Maria. It's like there's soft music playing and, if I try to listen, I can hear it. Then it's just like counting the beats." Liz screwed up her face. "I really don't know what I'm doing."

Max put his hand on her shoulder and kneaded it gently. "It's okay. That's another thing we'll figure out when we get to the healer. I screwed up, but I'll find someone to fix it. Why don't we go to the Granolith and see if we can find out anything else? See if Tess's story checks out. Will you guys go get Iz?"

"Wouldn't want to revel in this opulence or anything, huh?" Maria slid off the bed. "Be nice if I had a really cool past life. Mom's past life regression therapist said he saw me as a secretary, a housewife, and a farmer's wife. There's got to be something better for me on Antar, right, Michael?"

"You know, that's a common misinterpretation," they headed out the door still bantering.

"Liz, I'm so sorry," Max started as soon as they were out the door. "I got you into this mess and I was going to leave you to deal with more of my crap. I'm sorry that I didn't believe you about Alex, I'm sorry I was going to leave you, I'm just sorry."

For a few seconds Liz was silent, contemplating how to translate her feelings into words. "I wish I could tell you that everything is okay, Max. But we're on a spaceship, we don't know where we're headed, Tess is pregnant with Kyle's baby, I don't know what the hell is happening to my body, and now we all have some kind of past life that could get us in serious trouble with Khivar. But maybe we can get Alex back, and maybe we can get each other back. It's not okay, but it's getting better. And the one thing that's okay in this whole mess is that you're here with me for all of it."

Max looked down into Liz's dark eyes, the love and acceptance he needed at this moment shining from them. He leaned in and delivered an almost chaste kiss to her lips. "Thank you."

"Let's go get the others, okay?"

*****

Isabel looked over the bedroom with a not so little amount of astonishment. It reminded her of The Drake in Chicago, where she had once had coffee with her mother after a shopping trip to Michigan Avenue. She ran her hands over the surfaces. They felt less like metal and more like thick ivory. Isabel arranged herself on the edge of the small bed and observed her temporary home.

"I know you're there," her voice faintly echoed in the empty room. She turned slowly to her right.

"Even invisible I suck at hide and seek." Alex was standing just a few feet from Isabel's perch. "No wonder Maria and Liz always won."

"Are you real?" her voice was slightly above a whisper now, almost as though she was afraid that if she said it any louder, he would disappear. For a second, there was no reply.

"More yes than no."

"How very Yoda of you, Alex." Isabel's eyes sprang open and she gave him a practiced look of exasperation she usually reserved for Michael. "Why didn't you tell me this on Earth? We could've-"

"No, you couldn't. I'm not even sure if Tess is right to try this." Alex sat on the bed next to her, not disturbing the sheets nor making an indentation on the mattress. "Don't get me wrong, I'm angry. Angry at her for taking away my life. And I miss my life. I wasn't really ready to go yet. I had lots of things I wanted to do- get my band signed, marry you, finally figure out that last level of Myst, have lots of pretty babies with you. I wish I could take away your pain more than anything. I want to run my hands through your hair and feel it. I want to love you. And I hadn't done much of anything that I was supposed to. But the others were on the verge of letting me go, the way they're supposed to. I can be okay here, watching for a bit. I know we'll see each other next life and I didn't want you screwing up this one for me. The wheel has turned for me and I'm done. It's happened before and it'll happen again."

"You mean Tess isn't lying?"

"While Tess has and had many faults, in this particular case, she is being as truthful as she knows how."

"Alex, do you, do you remember what happened before?"

"Yes," his eyes closed. "Think there were some quality screwups in this life? Our last one would put it to shame. You were beautiful then, too. A little more spoiled maybe, but still Isabel.

"Izzy, things got so far off the rails. That's why your people sent you to Earth. Because everything then just got screwed up and not by our hands, none of us knew what had really happened. Max and Liz were still the classic Romeo and Juliet, always willing to throw themselves on the sword. And you and I... our relationship was complicated." Alex glanced at the door. "I can't show you everything, but I can give you a few of our memories. We only have a few minutes before the others come to get you and it's easier to know it than to explain it. Take my hand." He held it out and Isabel took it. Her heart swelled as she felt the familiar warmth of Alex and knew it was real. Then her mind was overcome in a flash.

Part 4b

"Vilandra, come see this," Zan called from the nearby greenhouse. Isabel recognized the name more now than she ever had. She almost thought of herself in terms of that person. Gradually she felt the name Isabel become strange. In her hands was a book, but not like any that she recognized exactly. However, with a shake of her head, the strange thought faded. The rich blue ink and the thick pages that felt substantial between her fingers. Vilandra perhaps enjoyed reading less than she did feeling the book.

"Coming!" She lifted up her skirt and entered the climate-controlled room filled with Zan's experiments. The tables were covered in tubes and chemicals, plant cuttings, soil. Zan looked somewhat less than royal, covered in a fine layer of dirt. Vi looked askew at him for a moment. He seemed too short, his hair too long and the locks of purple against black not right, and his eyes were too big. His amber eyes should have been smaller, with white around them. Vi shook off the feeling and leaned in when she noticed L'arala, her cascades of hair tightly held back but streaks of dirt along the side of the roots and through the hair testified that it had again been slipping down. Again, a strange parallel memory came to Vilandra, of L'arala with hair slipping down around her face, with a silver headband and a short blue dress, the same hesitant smile on her face.

"Beautiful day to you, L'arala,"

"And to you, Vilandra," L'arala bobbed her head twice, meeting Vilandra's eye for a passing second until Vilandra nodded. Vi liked the woman well enough, but she was so shy and followed tradition to the absolute, deferring to Vilandra's royal Antarian status despite the fact that on B'ril L'arala, too, was second in line for the throne. The woman worried more about propriety than the mystics, Vilandra thought absently, then repressed. L'arala was a powerful empath, which perhaps lent to her shyness. The only people with whom L'arala seemed free were Zan and her cousin M'lin. The two dirt-covered royals finished whatever they had been working on at the table and stepped back.

"I think we're very close," Zan placed his hand on L'arala's and watched.

"What are we waiting for?" Vilandra stared at the table in impatience.

"Hush!" with Zan's admonition, Vilandra saw a peek of the plant's blue stalk push through the soil surface. As though watching a vid on plant growth, with just a few seconds, the plant was at full bloom.

"Yes!" L'arala let out a cry and Zan scooped her up in a hug. "We're almost there! If we can figure out how to prevent nutrient depletion, we'll have the answer, Zan!"

"I know, and it's mostly thanks to your genius." Zan's compliment made a faint blue blush steal over L'arala's face.

"You exaggerate, but thank you, Zan." L'arala attempted to brush off some of the dirt and rearrange her dress. It had repelled the dirt but still needed adjusted in several places. Vilandra wordlessly tightened the clasps and wiped away the dirt from her hair. The blush deepened and L'arala bowed her head again, keeping her eyes below Vilandra's. "If you will pardon me, I want to call for M'lin and Alior. They should see the fruits of our labor."

"Of course," Vilandra and Zan both nodded and L'arala backed away from the table, to the nearest comm station.

"B'ril would be a good alliance and she's not promised. When are you going to ask her?" Vilandra, though not as strong an empath as either her brother or L'arala, could still read him quite clearly.

"I'm sending word to her father today. Khivar is leaving for B'ril with my request." A wide smile broke over his face. "You and Alior have been working on the Senate reports for quite a while. I know Mother wanted you and Rath promised, but he's not exactly the marrying kind. Alior wouldn't mind a connection to Antar and Larek would definitely approve the match. And it would get Khivar to stop sniffing you."

"Zan!" Vilandra felt a blush come over her cheeks as well. "Khivar's not 'sniffing' me. He's just been checking our progress on the year-end Senate reports. As the Senate Speaker, it directly concerns him. And you'd better check with Rath before volunteering me to someone else."

"I think I know my Prime quite well. Promise ceremonies and joinings are the furthest thing from his mind right now."

"What makes you thinks Alior's interested in the royal family. Plus, isn't he promised to M'lin?" Vilandra was now effectively fishing for information.

"No, they didn't make it through the ceremony. I think Alior's sense of humor got to M'lin. According to L'arala, she almost strangled him with the binding cloth." Zan gave a rare laugh. "Alior's been telling everyone that it was just a joke to get M'lin's picture on the vids, that he and M'lin are almost brother and sister, but certainly not promised. I think they are much better suited to be friends than lovers." The chosen King of Antar directed an evil glance at his sister. "But you should see a mystic, maybe you two are destined."

"The only two destined here are you and L'arala." Vilandra attempted to change the subject when she heard the door slide open. When she saw Alior step carefully into the room, she called out. "Alior, Zan tells me that you and M'lin did some great joke with a binding cloth. Tell me all about it."

To her great satisfaction, Alior tripped over a nonexistent plant. Vilandra smiled and came to "help" him up, letting him then take her arm. "Apparently my brother can't quite keep a secret."

"If he weren't the King." Alior grumbled good-naturedly. "I knew you'd find out, but M'lin is... a bit emotional. Musics are all like that."

"Mm-hmm, and I'm sure you played no role in her aggravation whatsoever, right? Because the Prime of Larek has never been known to annoy anyone."

"Nope, I did nothing. Don't know what you're talking about." They reached the table. "Let's see L'arala and Zan's plants."

***

Isabel's eyes opened when Alex let go of her hand.

"Alior?" it took a few minutes for Vilandra to fade into a sort of memory of dreams. "Alex?"

"What happened?"

"A little bit of exposition. Now you have an idea of who we were. We don't have time for more. Michael and Maria are here for you." At that, Alex disappeared and the door opened.

"Hey, Isabel, we're checking out the Granolith and getting a history lesson." Michael waited to make sure Isabel was following and headed to the Granolith.

Part 5a

Isabel had her hand at the control, eager for more of what Alex had told her. She had recognized not only Max and Michael's earlier incarnations, but also Maria, Liz, and Alex- M'Lin, L'arala, and Alior. Tess hadn't seemed to be present at all in Zan's life.

"Everybody ready?" Isabel looked to each of them. They raised their hands to the column and she pressed the seal.

"Ow! It pricked me!" Michael shook his offended hand, but it pulled only sluggishly from the surface. "My hand's frickin' stuck!"

"Greetings to the royal highnesses of Antar." A face appeared in the Granolith, no nose and no definition to it. Just gentle slopes of pale skin and empty blue eyes. It's mouth opened and moved, but not in accordance to the words they heard, as though it was being dubbed. "I humbly beg forgiveness for the pain you have had to endure. It was necessary to inject you with translator microbes in order for you to communicate with your loyal subjects as well as to maneuver this ship. They are a harmless symbiote which feed on the bioenergy your minds produce and in turn allow you to understand all known languages."

"Very Farscape," Michael said under his breath.

"My name is Arshana of the line of d'Linth, planet of Antar. I am here to instruct you in the history of your line and your people. Long ago, we discovered that it was virtually impossible to successfully implement a direct democracy among a planet so large as ourselves. We had billions of people on our planet and more in the outer territories. After the War of the Third Empire, in which millions of lives were lost, the mystics of Antar chose to select a ruling royal house, the members of which would enforce the laws and work in conjunction Senators elected from each of Antar's territories." a stream of video images flowed as the voice continued calmly, showing the familiar star system, then a red-purple world with a number of carved continents, presumable Antar. "The king or queen would be represented in the Senate and other functional capacities by the Prime, the second-in-command. King Zan, your Prime was Rath, whom your mother had intended to wed Vilandra. In the twentieth year of your reign, you chose to take a wife, the lovely Ava, the crown Princess of B'ril, one of our allies in the system." As he said each name, an image appeared. Isabel recognized Zan from her vision. Rath's brown eyes, shock of yellow hair tied back tightly, and a series of complex tattoos on his thick arms distinguished him from the King. Her own image was similar to Zan's, hair of a similar black and purple tone, her figure not as markedly feminine as her current state, but enough to tell the group that Antarian's had some surface similarities to humans. But what shocked Isabel was how much like L'arala Ava looked. They were both small, with long, dark hair and a shyness in their look. Ava's eyes separated her, though. Where L'arala's had been a rich brown, Ava's eyes were a cerulean shade. The images disappeared and Arshana's image again took center stage.

"However, the traitor Khivar, who had served as the Senate Speaker until his treachery, spread lies and dissent among the young ones and among the other planets in our alliance. He turned a skirmish with B'ril into a rallying cry against your reign. Though Queen Ava valiantly tried to quell the violence, Rath had already been slaughtered and the course of hostilities was beyond her control. Khivar interrupted the marriage ceremony that was meant to heal the rift between the worlds and killed the King and Queen. Vilandra, a spy for the court, was then executed and the followers who tried to retrieve her body were slaughtered. Ever since that day, Antar has lived under the shadow of Khivar's violence. Khivar seeks power, not peace, for Antar and under his rule, chaos has descended upon our once peaceful planetary system. The rulers of the other four planets and the underground movement who know of your imminent return know that only King Zan has the legitimacy to take back the rule of Antar, to overthrow Khivar and his traitorous supporters. We have many plans-"

The storyteller voice was cut off by a high-pitched beep from the control panel.

"What is that sound?" Maria's hands flew up to cover her ears. Kyle and Tess appeared in the door to their room. Tess looked a little steadier, but barely. Nonetheless, she headed for the control panel.

"It's a hail, do you want to hear?" Tess looked to Max.

"If it'll stop the frickin' beeping, I say just answer it." Michael looked pointedly at Max.

"Okay, but can we get away if it's not someone we want to play with?"

"I know how to do one strong jump." her hand hovered over one of the buttons.

"Let's see who's knocking."

Part 5b

A face appeared at the base of the column, facing Max. Isabel recognized the type of facial structure from the vision Alex had given her: smooth, eyes without whites, and short cap of blue hair.

"I am Natir, prime of Larek, planet of Grenor. I believe you remember Larek?" the being said impatiently.

"Yes, we do." Max answered for the group.

"Then, in his name, I've come to retrieve you. Nicholas alerted Khivar when your ship left Earth's atmosphere. Our intelligence tells us that he launched ships not long after we did. If they find you, they will destroy the ship and retrieve the Granolith. You must come with us, immediately."

"Uh, give us a minute to collect ourselves. Tess, can you cut it?" she nodded and the being disappeared from the column. "Tess, where were we headed originally?"

"Shiloth, the leader is Hanar and it was Nascedo's home planet. Grenor isn't far away, I think, but I don't really know. I've always sucked at geography and my cosmology isn't much better. Larek *is* an ally, though"

"Anyone have any thoughts, I'm in favor of some democracy with this decision. All of our lives are at stake." Max looked at the faces that were just as unsure as his. "Oka-ay. Maybe we should ask for proof that he's really Larek's Prime?" Michael nodded and tilted his head to Tess.

Suddenly, the entire ship jolted. All but the sitting Tess tumbled to the floor. Max got to his knees just as another shot rang through the ship. Wisps of smoke began to rise from the controls.

"Must be our welcoming party from Khivar," said Michael as he tried to get to his feet.

"I guess we should go with the lesser of two evils here," Max leaned over the panel and reactivated the communications. "Okay, we believe you. Bring us onboard."

There was no answer as the ship rocked again, with greater intensity. A boom echoed through the ship, the material of the floor bent inward.

"Michael!" Maria screamed as she pitched forward. She landed on the floor with an ominous thud of her blond head. The curls covered her unmoving face.

"Shit, Maxwell- get Nate to let us on and get over here!" Michael scooped Maria up. The other boy obeyed, placing his hands on Maria's head.

"I think it's just a skull fracture." Max turned to Liz. He closed his eyes and tried to sink into the deep meditative state that brought the healing energy. Maria's unconscious body lay limp in his hands still. Max thought of all the little moments he'd had with her- Michael attaching a bumper to the Jetta, nursing wounds over sundaes at the Crashdown, but no connection would form. He opened his eyes, to try to jostle her awake, when he felt Michael's hand clamp onto his shoulder, then saw him lay it on Maria's forehead. A rush of flashes overtook Max. Sneaker with red shoelaces, a shadowy image of a man handing Maria a Clash T-shirt while tears ran down her face, Michael standing outside her window in the rain, dinner at a long table, Scooby plates, a fairly uncomfortable image of Michael wearing very little. He had the connection and focused on knitting together the bones and making Maria wake. Tess's voice came from the faraway place that was the still-lurching ship.

"Max, I think we're being towed, but I don't know toward which one. This ship wasn't meant to resist this kind of attack and almost all of the controls are down." Tess looked worried. The shaking suddenly stopped. "That must be it. Whichever one got us, we're onboard."

Part 6

"Your highnesses," the door slid open to reveal a being that looked much like Natir. It may even have been him. For the first time in her life, Liz almost felt tall. The alien was a solid three inches shorter than her.

"Natir?" Max stepped forward.

"No, but I will bring you to him. He is on the bridge in battle with Khivar's ship," the being turned to lead the group out of their ship and into a cavernous bay. Max grabbed Liz's hand while Kyle gathered a visibly weakened Tess in his quarterback arms. Michael and Isabel helped a groggy Maria along the passageways.

"Is it much further? We've got walking wounded here," Michael called ahead to their guide.

"No, your highness." Their escort did not elaborate and within a few seconds they had reached another entryway.

"Honorable Prime Natir, may I present Their Royal Highnesses Zan and Vilandra, and the First Prime Rath of Antar, Ava of B'ril, lately Antar. And their," the being paused. "Their human contingent-"

"Liz, Maria, and Kyle," Max indicated each of them.

"We did not have a chance to be properly introduced. As I said, I am Natir and I represent Larek." Natir bowed his head and held his long tapered fingers flat out, palms down. Max repeated the gesture.

"Thank you for your help," Max turned to Kyle, whose had begun shifting Tess's weight. "I hate to impose on you immediately but we need a place for Tess- Ava to rest. She's with child."

"I can see," Natir's face was imperceptible but his voice sounded faintly amused. "Loran, please show Ava and her guard to one of Larek's rooms. And please see if a Healer is available as soon as the battle triage is completed."

Loran, who had been manning one of the control panels behind Natir, stepped forward and further down the hall, leading Kyle and Tess out of sight. Natir turned back to the remaining five, who had moved closer together.

"We received only a little damage in the skirmish, but when his scout ship returns, Khivar may use our presence as a premise to attack our planet, Grenor. We must get close enough to relay a message and then get you someplace safe. You certainly cannot go to Antar. We must go elsewhere."

"Tess had planned to take us to Shiloth," Michael volunteered. "She said that they would help us there and would keep it from Khivar."

"Then you don't know." Natir looked away for a moment and drew breath. His opaque brown eyes met Max's gaze. "Khivar has taken the shapeshifters. Not only does he hold Antar, he has gained full control of Taurana and Shiloth, two of our five worlds, and executed the rulers, Sero and Hanar, just a few days ago. Grenor and B'ril are still independent, but Khivar will likely attack before the month is out. I had thought you knew and that was why you returned, to rally the people and take back the throne with the rightful ruler. It seems that Khivar's plan is to kill anyone who might have had even a weak claim to the throne. Only Larek and Kathana remain. And the entire line of mystics has virtually disappeared so that no new line can be confirmed. The royal house of Grenor still has one of their apprentices, but that is not enough for an entirely new line. You four have at least a more than tenuous claim to the throne of Antar. Not everyone will accept it, but enough to win. Khivar has made many enemies, including Grenor."

"We had no idea," Max squeezed Liz's hand, unconcerned about what Natir or any of his crew saw or thought about the gesture. "Tess's pregnancy was the reason we left. The baby can't live on Earth and she wants to carry it to term."

"That cannot be. A child of two hybrids should be able to live on either Earth or one of our worlds. The design was Larek's own and virtually without flaw," Natir sounded generally confused and slightly offended.

"Well," Max hesitated, deciding whether to correct the man or not. If what Tess said were true, he would be forfeiting the lives of Tess, Kyle, and their baby. "Maybe the atmosphere changed or something. I'm sure the design is fine, but Tess says that the baby is dying and that we had to go to a home world now."

One of the devices on Natir's uniform, a gold pin in the shape of the whirlwind galaxy, beeped suddenly and Natir turned from them.

"One moment, please." The five shifted uncomfortably. The dozen or so Grenorian crewmembers on the bridge had been giving them veiled stares. Max knew they were technically royalty but the attention and deference they were getting was uncomfortable for all of them. When Natir turned back to them, though, the focus was back to the current crisis.

"The Healer has seen Ava and wishes to speak with you. I believe she has questions about the nature of the pregnancy and about human gestation. I will show you to the suite." Natir led them from the bridge. "And once that is complete, I'm sure Larek would like to see you."

"Tess can answer anything you need to know about the pregnancy, but Liz should be able to answer the scientific questions." Max stepped to the side and Liz stood before Natir. She tried to repeat the gesture of greeting. Natir gave a close equivalent of the human smile and gripped her hands. His smile turned into one of shock.

"You are not a human!" At that moment the entire bridge crew turned to the Earthly delegation with their hands raised, pointed directly at Liz.


	2. Part 7

Many thank to the reviews from cat, Katieshaz, Rogue212, and angelmeg- I definitely appreciate it greatly! I'm working steadily on this piece and Spring Break is next week, so I should be updating regularly.  
  
Part 7a  
  
Max threw up his green shimmering shield instinctually around the group. With Liz's touch, it glowed slightly brighter than normal. Her eyes were wide and she bit back a scream. The agitated crew's hands already buzzed with energy.  
  
"My lord, she is likely a spy of Khivar, sent to infiltrate you. Our people on Earth have all returned with the attacks. The only ones left were Khivar's minions."  
  
"Natir, there is a good explanation for this, Liz was human and I screwed it up. But she does not work for Khivar. I give you my word." With that promise, the crew dropped their hands, but still looked suspicious. Max dropped his shield. "I'd rather tell the entire story on the way. We need to speak with the Healer."  
  
Natir looked torn, in as much as Max could decipher his expression. "I will escort you and you may explain along the way."  
  
"Almost two years ago, Liz was shot in the restaurant where she worked. I healed her. Except I didn't do it right. Tess said that I accidentally changed her genes enough that Liz has a sort of hybrid Antarian DNA and has even been accessing powers."  
  
"Zan, she is not Antarian either. She is from B'ril, the only other free planet in your system, and she is marked."  
  
"What do you mean marked?" Liz spoke for the first time since they'd stepped off their ship.  
  
"You have the.aura of a royal, just as Zan and the others do. I suspect that if I checked, I could find the seal of B'ril, just as Ava has. Khivar might have been trying to exchange you for Ava and divide the Royal Four."  
  
"You're saying it looks like Tess and I are the same?"  
  
"Yes, you both appear to be B'ril royals." Natir sounded somewhat distressed about it. Max and Liz exchanged a look, knowing now that in their past lives, if Tess and Natir were to be believed, then whoever Liz had been was related to Ava. "Khivar and his camp can take possession of bodies and warp their auras, manipulate the mind to create just such an illusion quite effectively hiding any potential spies. However, he or one of his followers would have to be actively in control of the mind for that to occur. If you say that she is unaffected, then it must have been your own manipulations alone, Zan. We have reached our destination. This is our Healer, Kayla. Please use the comms on the wall if you are in need. If you'll excuse me, I must attend to the repairs and contact Larek." Natir waited for Max's nod and then slowly backed out of the room.  
  
They all entered the room where Tess now slept, holding Kyle's hand tightly. Kyle looked quite out of place on the ship, unsure of himself now that he didn't have Tess's immediate well being to worry about. The Healer, a pale figure shorter than Natir and a woman of indiscriminate age, stared at the group from the other side of the bed. She bobbed her head, kept her eyes to the ground, and stayed silent.  
  
Liz leaned in to whisper to Max. "I think you have to speak first."  
  
"Oh," Max had a good handle on the giving orders part, but the propriety and rules of royalty were new to him.  
  
"What information did you need, Healer?"  
  
"The pregnancy is not proceeding along the predicted parameters of a hybrid." The Healer peeked at Max and seemed about to say something, then changed her mind. "I will need some information about the conception, anything Lady Ava may have been exposed to that might have altered her or the child's genetic makeup." After a pause she added, "Or you, Lord Zan. I also need to know the length of a typical human gestation period, the general details of birth, and any other medical information that you might be able to provide. Most of it is ultimately available on Grenor but we are not within communications range."  
  
"Liz, Maria, could you guys fill her in, please?" Max had his eyes on Tess.  
  
"Sure, Max," Liz and Maria deliberately moved to the other side of the room, to a small parlor type area, and the Healer followed.  
  
"Max, what are we going to tell them about Tess and Kyle?" Michael asked.  
  
"Nothing. Until we know their reactions to the humans or their feelings about the 'sanctity' of the line, we're going to let them think that Tess is carrying my child. If she's right, we all need to be careful. No PDAs, no information about us unless someone asks, and we'll have to bunk girls in one, guys elsewhere. I think we've made them suspicious enough already. We need to get more details from Tess on exactly what we're getting into."  
  
"Max," Isabel looked up at him hesitantly, "I had a vision on the ship. About Liz and the others. Natir is telling the truth, she's B'ril royalty."  
  
"When did you have a vision?"  
  
"Why didn't you tell us, Izzy?"  
  
"I would have but we sort of got attacked, if you guys remember." Isabel's voiced was full of exasperation. "It's not like I was trying to keep it a secret. But we were doing the history lesson, then Natir came, then Khivar's ship."  
  
"What was in it?" Max was obviously interested. He'd only come up with a few fragments of memory with Tess and he couldn't even be sure of those now. Who knew how much of it she'd created to get him to take her home.  
  
"You and Liz, except you were Zan and L'arala. And Maria and Alex, I think. Their names were M'lin and Alior in that world. Liz was second in line for the throne of B'ril. And you guys did something with plants." Isabel closed her eyes, trying to pull as many details from the vision Alex had given her as possible. "Vilandra and Alior worked with the Senate. Khivar had a high position, but I didn't want to work with him. And Alior and M'lin had a marriage ceremony that never came through. Something Alior did, no doubt."  
  
"All that I show you and you've got to tell them that story." Alex's voice reached her ears. Isabel's eyes flew open, but this time all she could see was Max and Michael looking at her worriedly. "They can't see me. In fact, it's just you and I thought you'd look less batty if I were just a voice in your head. Or maybe I've got that reversed. But you're the only one on this plane that I made a connection with so you're the only one I can do this with. And I need your help to give the others the visions they need. Send the Healer away."  
  
"Did you learn anything else, Izzy?" Max spoke after Isabel got an annoyed look on her face.  
  
"Yeah," Isabel looked over at Liz and Maria with the Healer. Maria was making her gross out face as Liz spoke, gesturing emphatically at one point. "Liz, Maria, we need you for a second. Can you do this later?"  
  
The Healer hopped up. "Yes, Lady Vilandra. I must record all this information as soon as possible. Thank you, Liz and, uh, Maria, for your assistance." The Healer quickly exited and Isabel shut the door behind her.  
  
"Liz, how on Earth did you know about all of that in such excruciating detail?" Maria shuddered.  
  
"I took Anatomy. Just like you did." Liz answered with a shrug.  
  
"And like any sane person, I didn't pay attention to a thing."  
  
Alex's voice buzzed in Isabel's mind. "Isabel, we only have a short time before we're close enough to make contact with Larek and then there won't be time for this until it's too late. Have them sit down and touch hands."  
  
"Guys, I had a vision and I need to share the next one with all of you. Now, before it's too late." Isabel plopped onto the floor with more speed than grace. "Grab hands, all of us, Kyle and Tess, too." They did as they were told.  
  
"Okay, fasten your seatbelt and open a connection," Alex directed. In seconds, they were all on watching the inevitable fall of Antar, sixty years ago.  
  
Part 7b  
  
"Khivar, what was the word?" Zan's voice rang out over the comms.  
  
"Your highness, you are impatient," Khivar answered tersely to Zan's third request. "I have only just reached the capitol and my audience with Queen Kathana is not for another hour."  
  
"Please let me know immediately. I would have gone myself if Rath's troops hadn't returned early."  
  
"Of course, I will, my King. I'm in the capitol and I will notify you as soon as I meet with Kathana. I'm sure she won't deny the King of Antar's request to marry a daughter." Khivar cut him comm. Zan moved to his desk and pulled up a vid of the latest botanical experiment that he and L'arala had finished, the closest they had ever come to their goal of . The sound off, Zan watched as she silently explained the process to the camera, turning to Zan twice for confirmation of something. They had accidentally left it on while Vilandra watched and M'Lin and Alior entered the room. Though Zan had been entranced with the plant at the time, he now saw L'arala's eyes on him, not the plant. Her smile when he smiled. It was this vid, this moment of unguarded admiration that convinced him that she truly loved him, that it wasn't her empathy catching his scarcely guarded feelings or a lack of suitable options for the second in line to the throne of B'ril. It was then that Zan realized that for the first time in his life he could have what he truly wanted. He and L'arala could be joined without hesitation. Zan froze the frame as they hugged without thinking, her expression one of pure joy.  
  
"Sorry that actual work is interrupting your love life, Zan," Rath leaned against the doorway, teasing his King.  
  
"Rath!" Zan looked flustered. He quickly blacked the vid screen. "I was just-  
  
"Mooning over L'arala?"  
  
"Checking some.data." Zan tried to cover his none-too-subtle moment of infatuation from his best friend.  
  
"In a few hours, you can obsess over her all you want. You'll have a whole promise ceremony to plan and an intergalactic media frenzy to fend off."  
  
Zan looked slightly unconvinced. "I hope so. I just wish I could have gone. Or if not me, you or Vilandra. But she's with Alior delivering the Senate presentation to Larek on Grenor and we've got a traitor in the ranks to root out."  
  
"Khivar has always been trustworthy before. The Senate has never been more united behind one man since the first King." Rath answered, dropping a stack of hand links with profiles of the soldiers. "I'm sure he can handle this. And he's right; Kathana would never turn you down. By this time next cycle, I'll bet you and L'arala are making the entire palace sick with your perfect joining and your stolen glances and your-"  
  
"I'm sure you're right," Zan cut off his Prime. "But I have a bad feeling that something will happen. That Khivar will fail."  
  
"Get your mind off it. Let's look at these reports and figure out who's been spreading lies against the regime among the troops." Rath and Zan sat and began to read.  
  
The scene faded into one of a wholly different atmosphere. The room was in shambles- books and vid cards thrown to the ground, the vid screen cracked, large blackened areas on either wall where Zan's had blasted. Wind whistled through the shattered picture window and shouts from below faintly drifted up to the high royal office. Zan lay curled on the floor, unmoving and staring into the distance. Vilandra crouched on the floor and stroked her brother's head.  
  
"This can be undone, Zan. Somehow, we will take back Khivar's promises and he will admit that he lied and forged your seal. We'll find him, I swear." A green, crackling energy spilled out of Vilandra's free hand. " If it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure that he does and that Ava understands."  
  
"Ava might, but her mother Kathana never will." Zan's raspy voice spoke for the first time since his howl of anguish when he had first learned of Khivar's subtle treachery. "There is no way to slight the Queen and Crown Princess of B'ril in favor of the second. It will be seen an insult and an attempt to unseat Ava. It will be the start of a war between Antar and B'ril. Unless we can find Khivar and force him to confess to treason, I must wed Ava. Khivar has done the one thing that I can't fix, that can truly destroy the only thing I ever really wanted from this life."  
  
With that, Zan closed himself off again. Vilandra could feel her twin retreating to the dreamscape where none of this had ever happened. Where Khivar had not given Zan's proposal to the wrong girl, where he had not been betrayed by one who should have been most loyal. Feeling her brother so near and yet so far, Vilandra realized what she had to do.  
  
With a telekinetic boost, Vilandra guided Zan onto the divan and stood. She placed a gentle kiss on Zan's head.  
  
"Vilandra, Larek's arrived," Alior stood in the doorway. Vilandra gazed deep into his eyes. "We need to find Khivar."  
  
"I know." With that Vilandra moved past Alior and out of the room, leaving her world behind. 


	3. Part 8

Behind the B'ril palace, away from the voices, the hurried preparations, the news that she never wanted to hear, L'arala crouched under the huge leaves of the spydra plant she had begun cultivating during her first botany course with the tutor. She made a passing attempt to distract herself with pulling dead leaves from the base, but even as she pulled the tears started down her cheeks.  
  
"No, I've cried enough today," L'arala admonished herself and wiped the light indigo tears from her face. Not only had it hurt like a blade to bone when she heard Khivar extend the request for Ave in marriage, presenting it with the seal in Zan's own hand, it had been absolutely humiliating. She usually didn't sit at Court for foreign diplomats unless her presence was specifically required. And L'arala knew how hopeful she had looked when Khivar entered, then how absolutely crushed when he left. Everyone in that room likely knew that she had expected that proposal to be for her. And she knew that Ava, her perfect, powerful sister, who would now be Zan's wife, had known the moment that L'arala's heart shattered. L'arala was the strong empath, Ava the mindwarper, but when it came to each other, they had a running connection. Ava wasn't particularly happy when Khivar had made the presentation, but didn't turn him down. It was that moment when L'arala, for the first time in years, had closed their connection. Ava was still a faint hum in the back of her mind, just as she became when L'arala had gone to Antar or one of the other planets, but nothing more than recognition of her existence. She couldn't stand to be aware of Ava's joy for a single minute.  
  
"L'arala," M'lin's voice drifted into the garden. "I know you're out here. Don't make me search under every blessed plant in this place."  
  
"I'm here," L'arala peeked over the spydra plant, knowing what a mess she looked. Trust her cousin M'lin to come looking. M'lin truly cared about her. Her own sister, Ava, on the other hand, was probably planning her joining ceremony and thinking of what it would be like to be the most powerful woman in the system. L'arala had known her sister's faults perhaps better than anyone. It was not that Ava had ever been particularly mean- spirited or hateful, though she had a vicious jealous streak; she was just too wholly self-absorbed to realize when her actions were hurting other people. Most of their childhood had been full of Ava's preferences, Ava's desires. Rarely did Ava think through her actions and their consequences on other people. They were sisters and loved each other, but never connected. Apparently, that lack of understanding of each other would leave L'arala without the one thing she ever really wanted.  
  
"Are you okay?" M'lin began smoothing down L'arala's hair and pulling the bits of dirt and plants from it. "I'm sorry, that was a stupid question. Of course you're not okay."  
  
"I'm not okay. I'm so far from okay," L'arala looked up, feeling the waves of sympathy coming from M'lin. She paused to try to build her shields back up; right now, L'arala could only stand to deal with her own emotions. "Why, this one time, couldn't I have what I want? Couldn't Ava sacrifice something for me? Can't she just let me have Zan?"  
  
"L'arala, if Zan wants Ava, who wants him?" M'lin replied.  
  
"I do," L'arala sniffled, feeling somewhat childish.  
  
"It'll be alright." M'lin stood and grabbed L'arala's hand to pull her up. "Come to my rehearsal space. It's shielded and no one will bother you there. We can sort through my files and you can make fun of me for how unorganized I am. I'll even get you some sweet allenda cream. That makes everything better."  
  
"Thank you, M'lin," L'arala whispered and her friend batted her on the arm.  
  
"Princess L'arala, Lady M'lin, may I have the honor of escorting you?" Khivar, so well shielded that neither of them had felt his approach, startled them. The Speaker of the Antarian Senate looked overly interested in L'arala. Like most Antarians, he towered several inches above the two B'ril women.  
  
"Lord Khivar!" L'arala tried to summon a smile for the man, but he had effectively ended any hope for her future happiness. But, regardless, Khivar spoke for the people of Antar and as one of the sovereigns of B'ril, L'arala had to at least feign politeness. It was a relief not to feel anything from him, not the waves of sympathy she expected. "Of course you may escort us, but we are not going far."  
  
"Whither thou goest, I shall go." Khivar delivered a disturbing parallel to the promise vows. L'arala allowed Khivar to take her arm and he joined them as they walked down the path toward the palace.  
  
*****  
  
Each member of the group's eyes opened slowly, shaken from what they'd just seen. Even Tess, a guilty look on her face, roused and then immediately turned away from what lay before them. Shocking them almost as much as the vision, was Alex's serene yet amused face staring at them all from behind Isabel. For a moment, there was silence.  
  
"Alex!" The first choked cry came from Maria and Liz had nothing but tears. No one moved.  
  
"Crap, this wasn't supposed to happen," Alex seemed about to flee. One hand removed from Isabel's shoulder and he faded slightly  
  
"Please, don't leave," Liz whispered. "Just stay."  
  
"Lizzy, I'm so sorry," Alex replaced his hand. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through any of this. But this is the way it was supposed to be."  
  
"Alex, we're bringing you back." Max's voice was the authoritative royal tone that was not to be argued with.  
  
"Believe it or not, Max, this will be the second lifetime in which I've actively disobeyed you. You've got other things to take care of right now. I can't help you with that and I don't even know if it's a good idea." Alex said. "There is an order to life and for all your god-like alien powers, you don't get to make those decisions. I miss you guys all very much, but time is growing short."  
  
"Alex," Tess spoke haltingly, "I need to-"  
  
"Tess," Alex turned a stony face to the blond. "I have forgiven you because I'm in a place where I need to and you are in a place where we all need you. I know you remember what happened, a lot of what Ava did and all of what you've done. Now is the time to fix it. Not later, not after the baby is born, not after Max is crowned. Here you will have an opportunity to act the way you should have last time. Listen to me carefully. You need to put others first this time. You are not the queen in this lifetime but if you do things right, you will pay back the debt you owe. Karma's a bitch and she's coming to collect."  
  
For a second, Tess looked like a puppy being kicked, then she sucked in a breath and sat straighter in the bed. "You're right. I'm sorry but I can't take back what I've done in this life or the last. I don't know what exactly happened, but I know that I tried at the end to make up for it and I'm trying now."  
  
"Right now I only have time to tell you this. History is written by the winners. Thing is, guys, ultimately everything can be relative. You aren't King because Khivar wrote that you weren't. If I had the pen, I might've written about how you were a good king who just wanted the best for his people, who was studying alternative ways to grow food to ensure that children on your kingdom never went hungry, who wouldn't even have accepted the throne except to institute reforms on a planet mired in tradition and dragged down by the old ways. Who was on the verge of uniting the system by wedding an heir to the throne of B'ril. Whose friends and family loved him so much that they would ultimately die for him.  
  
"But Khivar and his followers painted you as just a power-hungry leader, instituting reforms slowly, to ensure your reign until you could prop up an heir who would be under your power regardless. So now, it's your word and your actions against Khivar and his. And now, Grenor and B'ril are about to fall. It will be very hard for your followers to accept, but you can't come back as king. However, there is a way to fix all of this. You'll find it if you just trust each and only each other. Don't listen to them, listen to you. Khivar has perverted his powers to the point that he can be anywhere, anyone, and you won't know it until it's too late. Trust your instincts and don't trust anyone on this ship. It's important that you remember that because I have to go."  
  
"Alex, stay," Isabel whispered. "Help us, please."  
  
"I can't," Alex turned back to the group. "Miles to go and all that. I wish." looking at the eyes of the people who had known more of his life than his parents, Alex hesitated and turned from them. "It's really hard to do this. If I don't go now, I don't know if I'll ever be able to."  
  
With that, he was gone. Isabel could feel his absence like a missing limb. A part of her that did have feeling, that was alive and whole, was now gone. Dim pain and longing and cold  
  
"We are bringing him back," Liz announced with the same steel in her voice that had been when she investigated his murder. She stood and this time Max didn't try to stop her. "Let's go back to this and get what we need, because if Alex is right, we might not get a chance to make these decisions later. I'm going back to the ship to get the DNA samples and we are going to find that mystic." Liz raced out the door.  
  
"I'll go with her. You guys wait here, together and make sure none of us leave this room alone." Max took off in her direction.  
  
Liz was moving faster than he had expected and was several yards down the hall by the time he caught up with her. They walked quickly for a few feet, passing the occasional Grenorian crewmember, who gave them a few curious glances and half salutes, obviously not sure which of the crew they were, but otherwise left them alone.  
  
They neared the hangar, or so he thought. All the hallways of the ship looked fairly similar and they were just as likely to get seriously lost. Just as he thought this, Liz turned and they were at the ship. Max opened the door and turned to Liz. "That was a lot to handle, are you sure you're okay?"  
  
"I'm so far from okay." Liz stopped dead in her tracks, realizing whose words she had repeated. She sat down roughly on the floor, knees pulled to her chest, arms wrapped around. Max gently took her hand. "Wow. That's what she, I said when. It's one thing to hear it from Tess, to have her say something about past lives. She's always been you're your lives on Antar and destiny and all of that. I'd expect that kind of stuff from her. Plus, I don't know what out of her mouth I can trust. But that vision and those feelings. Now I know that we really had a life together before this. One that went so far wrong, Max. Khivar must have been manipulating everything. And Tess was my sister! It's just so surreal."  
  
"I know." Max gave a little smile. "It's really strange to think of you two as sisters. You're both so different, in this life and the last."  
  
"Max," Liz pulled him further into the ship back toward the royal suite where they had congregated after Tess's revelations just a few hours ago. It seemed a lifetime. "I'm starting to remember other things about my last life. About you."  
  
"What do you remember?"  
  
Liz lifted the dress from the drawer again, the soft purple that had caught her eye before. "This dress, it was Kathana's. My mother's. And she saved it for one of her daughters to wear for her first dance as promised. I used to go into her room and feel it, breathe it because it had nothing but beautiful feelings attached to it. Until Ava." Liz took a deep breath and let go of the fabric. "You kept a pet. It reminds me of a cat, but a longer body, sort of snake-shaped. You used to make Rath keep an eye on it when you went to the camps. He'd moan and complain, but he'd do it anyway. Rath did love that thing. M'lin introduced me to you. She knew that you'd be the one for you after you wrote her a letter about one of her songs. Something short and sweet that just guaranteed you'd be in her good favor forever. And Alior. He and Alex were so much alike. Max, I can't do this. All these feelings and these premonitions, Max. I'm seeing the future!"  
  
"Shh," Max stroked her hair. "We'll work it out, we'll fix it. And you can help me remember things. I think everything Tess showed me was a lie. Except for the vision, I barely remember anything."  
  
"Max, I want our love back. I want to be with you without hesitation and I want a life together. One lifetime where we get to be happy." Liz leaned in against Max, wanting more than they could have at that moment. Max left a trail of kisses along her collarbone and Liz almost gave in, the softness of the bed and the familiarity of the moment washing away her determination to get things done. They were on the verge of stretching out across the bed until Liz cut the kiss short, whirling her head to the entrance.  
  
There stood Natir, a half smile on his face, as far as he could manipulate his mouth to form in any case.  
  
"Natir?" Liz questioned.  
  
Natir took a step closer to them and paused when they tensed. "Still the sharp one, are we? Unfortunately, it's come too late in this lifetime as well."  
  
Max, contact the rest of them. Get the rest of them to the Granolith now. Liz spoke through their still open connection and felt Max break off to connect with Isabel and Michael.  
  
"You've presented me with just the opportunity to finally squelch that nasty little rebellion still persisting on Antar and to remove all claims to the throne. They'll finally start seeing through the myth. The Queen pregnant by a human, the King in love with Ava's sister and more popular rival for the throne. My, my, you've got that repeating history part down pat. And some DNA manipulations just for good measure. Think things will happen any differently this time around?"  
  
They're coming and I told them not to let anyone stop them. Max kept his eyes on Natir while maneuvering his hands into position.  
  
"Things will be different in this life, Khivar." Liz tried to engage him while Max summoned all his energy. Natir laughed loudly.  
  
"I thank you for the compliment, but I am not Khivar. I merely serve him. We infiltrated Larek's palace long ago after the death of his last Prime, Alior. I managed to maneuver into this position in the interim. Not long after he helped you solve that little gandarium issue that we arranged. Until then, I only fed Khivar information about Grenorian politics. But when you pulled him out in the middle of a diplomatic briefing, I knew that you must have trusted him enough to seek and trust his help. And that information led up set up this little situation. Now, I'll be bringing all of you, with the Granolith, back to Khivar."  
  
"God, you guys are so stupid," Michael's voice came from behind him. His hand was brightly charged and on the verge of escaping his control. Beside him, Isabel mimicked his stance, forming a protective barrier in front of Kyle and Tess while Maria fiddled with the controls of the Granolith. "Is it in every evil villain handbook that you waste just enough time explaining what you're going to do to get caught?"  
  
"Ah, Rath," Natir sounded startled, but not worried. He turned just enough away from Max that he used that opportunity to release a bolt of energy. Liz grabbed his other hand and the burst lit the room up like a rising sun. Natir tumbled back against Michael and Isabel's charged hands, knocking them to the side and leaving Kyle and Tess vulnerable. With a hellacious scream, Natir rolled to the ground and knocked Kyle's feet from beneath him. Tess fell as Kyle's support disappeared from around her waist and Natir's body delivered its blow.  
  
Everything from that moment slowed. The Granolith lit up and Natir's hand shot out. One hand spread across the charred skin of his chest and wrapped the other around Tess's neck. From his prone and painful position on the floor, Natir stared up at the five people about to finish him off.  
  
"Just a tiny bit more pressure and I will snap the good queen's neck. I suggest you surrender." 


	4. Part 9

The sincerest of thanks to the amazing feedback I've received on this story here! You guys are unbelievably awesome and I'm privileged to have such responsive readers.  
Part 9  
  
"Natir, we can't stop the countdown once it's started. Let her go or this ship will blast through your hull while we wait."  
  
The timer is set for two minutes. It's going to launch soon. Liz's husky voice edged through Max's mind, trying to distract him as little as possible, but make him aware of their limited timetable.  
  
"I somehow doubt that you would kill the last great hope of the Antarian people, Zan. You and all your line die here on this ship and the entire system will belong to Khivar without dispute." Natir's grip loosened incrementally and Max could tell that he had been wounded severely. "Which would, of course, serve my purpose."  
  
"What good will that do you if you're not there to see it? I can heal you. Fair trade and I'm true to my word." Max looked uncertain. While he doubted anyone but Kyle would truly mourn Tess, they didn't need any more deaths staining their hands, not to mention the innocent life she carried. That was the only thing he wasn't willing to compromise. Though he wasn't completely sure, the connection he had made with the child had seemed genuine. The little life inside her was completely innocent and very special.  
  
"I have plenty of healers on my ship who are completely loyal to me." Natir edged to the exit one slow step after another. "Get off this ship with me now, Zan. Take this opportunity. I assure you such a painless surrender shall not present itself again."  
  
After just a second of indecision, all 180-pounds of Kyle, with the training of the a varsity quarterback and the desperation of a helpless father-to-be flew into Natir, with as much weight in his tackle as his body could give it and with even a little extra push beyond the bounds of gravity from either Tess or the baby. However, in horror, the rest watched as instead of taking Natir and Tess clear of the exit, Kyle propelled Natir, his grasp awkwardly reestablished on the skin on the back of Tess's neck, but to the side and just inches from the door. Natir threw his weight and rolled out of the ship with both Tess and Kyle in tow. The last thing the group saw was Natir's perversion of a smile as the doors sealed themselves shut and the Granolith repeated a smaller version of its launch from Earth, the force from it propelling them out of and away from Natir's ship.  
  
"Won't they just shoot at us again?" Izzy looked at Max, but it was Liz who answered.  
  
"I don't think we were attacked before." Liz looked over the control panel, which seemed clean and undamaged. "When we were last on this ship, there was smoke coming from here. It must have been a mindwarp."  
  
"Tess?" the venom in Maria's voice was almost tangible.  
  
"But Alex said that we should trust each other?" Isabel hesitated, hoping he'd appear and clarify himself.  
  
"I guess that higher plane stuff isn't all it's cracked up to be." Michael laid a comforting hand on Isabel's shoulder.  
  
"Maybe it wasn't Tess?" Liz looked torn between wanting to believe the blond had reformed, particularly with the memories of Ava that were resurfacing. But L'arala had always been disappointed, and now Liz would be as well.  
  
"Come on, Liz," Michael sided with Maria. "It had to be her. She was on the ship, she manned the controls. I bet we were headed for Natir's ship the whole time. Dammit! She got us again. She managed to manipulate us into delivering her, the baby, and us almost directly to Khivar.  
  
"That is the last time we trust that skanky, lying whore. No matter what." Maria sounded angrier than Liz felt. For some reason, Liz had difficulty summoning a righteous anger at Tess. She felt acceptance and a slight sting of hurt, even a significant amount of anxiety for the three they had left behind.  
  
"Can you fly this thing, Liz?" Michael gazed down at the controls in confusion. They definitely looked familiar, but not in any fashion that translated to knowing how to fly the thing.  
  
"I think so. How to pilot a transport is probably the only really useful thing I remember, unless anyone's interested in the lineage of the second heralds of B'ril." Liz stared down at the controls and made an adjustment, then shot her head up. "Maria, how did you know how to set the launch sequence?"  
  
"I just," Maria paused to think. "I just knew."  
  
They could almost see the gears turning in Liz's head. "Maria, Max healed you when the ship was under attack. Or when we thought it was under attack. But he probably did the same thing to you that he did to me: he used the basic structure he remembered from M'lin. And then Alex came and he flooded our minds with triggers. He gave us all whole memories. You're remembering M'lin."  
  
"Liz, you are the alien abyss girl. I'm just Spaceboy's ball and chain, his infinitely better half." Maria's eyes were wide, the words flying out of her mouth and her hands twitching. Liz hadn't seen her this agitated since she first found out about Max, Michael, and Isabel. "It's one thing to have a past life, it's another to have it coming back to claim you."  
  
"You think I don't know that?" Liz looked down. Max moved to Liz's side, far from Maria, managed to half hide himself behind Liz's petite form. Liz kept her eyes on the control, but took Max's hand to reassure him. Liz could already almost feel the angst pouring off Max. "There's no going back, Maria. We can't just undo a whole past life and it's something we're now intimately involved in. We all have a part to play and Alex said that we had a chance to fix things. I'm remembering things, things I think I and L'arala would rather forget, but I think there's a point to all of this. The mystics knew what they were doing. The ship is full of triggers, like the wedding dress. And I think they're things we need to know to do what we need to do."  
  
"This is just too big," Maria leaned against Michael, letting him wrap her in his arms. "I don't know if I can do it."  
  
"We have to." With that dictum, Isabel stood. Then she softened her voice. "We weren't exactly given a choice either, Maria."  
  
"Enough touchy-feely crap," Michael snapped the girls away from the tears that teased at each of their eyes. "We need a plan, a place to go. Where's the ship headed now, Liz?"  
  
"It's on the default trajectory towards the V system and ultimately Antar." Liz pointed to the navigational controls and brought up a star map.  
  
"Even if she is a traitor, we can't come back without Tess. It'll do exactly what Zan was so scared of, it'll insult B'ril. They're expecting us to at least have Ava with us, even if she isn't technically Max's wife. I don't remember much from that life, but I know that the politics of the royal courts are serious and complicated." Michael turned to Max. "We might lose Kathana's support if she thinks that we're playing power games with her. And we won't be returning to our people as the Royal Four that they're expecting."  
  
"We need reinforcements, Michael. We've got to save the baby, so we've got to save Tess. And Kyle." Max paused. "Probably."  
  
He rubbed the palm of his hand against his forehead, trying to massage away the sense of impending doom. "As to where to go, Antar is completely out of the question. We don't know who to trust or how to get to Larek, if we could even make it to Grenor without getting killed in the process. And we don't know anything about the other two planets that are under Khivar's control. If we could prove to Kathana that Liz was L'arala reincarnated, maybe she'd help. You know, maternal instincts."  
  
"Or maybe she'd think that you were trying to substitute one sister for another. We don't know how much she liked L'arala."  
  
"Michael, do you have any better ideas?"  
  
"No, but this is bound to lead to us getting killed or married to the wrong people." Michael sighed and ended the conversation. "Liz, can you plot the course to B'ril?"  
  
"Yes," Liz busied herself with the control panel. "It may be in our best interest to try to learn as much as possible about this ship and what we're heading into. There should be individual viewing stations in each of the rooms if you want to stretch out."  
  
Liz watched Michael and Maria leave the common area for some privacy while watching. Max sat with Isabel a few feet away and brought up the vid they had been watching before the Natir debacle. The narrator was explaining the loyalists' overly optimistic plans for the new reign of Zan, but didn't spend much time on the how to oust Khivar part. Liz stopped paying attention while Arshana listed and described the powerful members and families of the Antarian Senate. She didn't really want to know in this lifetime any more than she had as L'arala.  
  
The ship was programmed to virtually fly itself, to ensure that the Royal Four made it back no matter what, but Liz made the occasional hairpin adjustment to get them there as fast as possible. Natir's more advanced ship had been headed for the system at its highest speeds and they were less than a day from their destination. In fact, Liz now suspected that their ship had certainly not been traveling as fast as possible. But now she kept it as close to maximum speed as she dared. So little time before they would all come face to face with a past she didn't entirely remember and now her present. Liz felt so strange, torn. The part of her that was Liz Parker hesitated at the idea of stepping onto an alien world and trying to acquire a station that likely did not even belong to her. But there was another part that felt like this was coming home. That was desperate to see Kathana, to know if she would be the accepted daughter, and if she could have the legitimate role in Max's world that she had desired for two lifetimes.  
  
She watched Max provide the comfort that Isabel so desperately needed. He let Isabel just rest her head on his shoulder, an arm wrapped around her. Liz knew that he was the one, the only one there had ever been for her in any lifetime. Other people, other things, kept complicating things. But when it all came down to basics, it was always just Max and Liz, Zan and L'arala. It was as simple as love ever got and Liz just had to hold on. Of all that Alex told them, Liz hoped that Max wouldn't have to be king in this life. Other than the two particular memories of Zan, her foggy memories of Zan weren't of some power hungry king. In fact, as best she could recall, Max never was the type to give arbitrary orders or threats. In both lifetimes, Max had been a natural leader but not a king. Max had difficulty imposing his will upon people. When he did, he had to repress everything that was caring and good about him. No wonder Alex said that he couldn't return as king. And soon, they'd have him back, for real this time.  
  
She looked back up at the screen where Arshana was still explaining the intricacies of Antarian Royal history. Briefly, she heard mention of the mystics and Liz snapped to attention. These people interested her. Ones who could give them all the answers they sought and ones who Khivar feared enough to try to wipe out. And the ones who would know how to bring back their Alex.  
  
"Make it go back a minute." Liz moved to Max's other side.  
  
"The issue of selecting the line of the kingship has been the duty of the mystics. They are a line apart from the rest of the planetary system, a genetic sport that combines the mental powers of our people with a sense of empathy and something only other mystics can identify. Theirs is a treasured line and have held the future of the system in their hands many a time. Other than by marriage, there is no other way to gain footing to the throne. The mystics read and confirm the proposed heir of the current king, on the eve of his or her eighteenth cycle. And should the king produce no child, the mystics will select from among the population or current royal family.  
  
"King Zan, you were unequivocally confirmed after the death of your father, at only seven cycles, an unprecedented age for such a strong affirmation. Your followers saw this as a sign that you would be a great king, who would unite the planet and the system. It is for this reason that we chose to attempt to recreate the Royal Four. Only a mystic can confirm or reject your reign. However, Khivar has portrayed this as a perversion of the system by the mystics. Within the first cycle of his despotic reign, he summarily executed ever mystic who attended that confirmation. The line has been dwindling over the last hundred cycles and Khivar has taken advantage of the situation to begin slowly extinguishing every mystic, on Antar and any other planet. On B'ril, however, a small group of mystics remains hidden. Their sect, well-hidden and known only to Queen Kathana, were the ones who created your hybrid bodies and ensured that your Antarian essences would be dominant. As long as Kathana lives, she has vowed to protect them until your return. Once you have defeated Khivar, they will confirm the return of the king. For this-"Liz froze the image in mid-syllable and turned to Max and Isabel, an expectant smile on her face.  
  
"This is it! Kathana has the mystics and we can bring Alex back." 


	5. Part 10

Part 10  
  
"Tess, what the hell was that!" Kyle turned to her. "You mind warped me!"  
  
"Silence!" Natir studied Tess with a dangerous calm. "My good queen, why, pray tell, did you allow them to escape?"  
  
"He would have let you kill me! Apparently Khivar has misjudged both your intelligence and your dedication to the cause. You would have failed him by losing both his only legitimate link to the throne and the Granolith," Tess returned the alien's sharp stare. For a moment, the ship crackled with their potential energy. Then Natir gave a brief upsurge to let her know he had the potential to attack and let his power ebb.  
  
"Remember that Khivar is your king, but I am the Queen. Nascedo made a blood oath with Khivar to guarantee my safety in exchange for the shapeshifters alliance. I have proof of his transfer allegiance, I bear an heir, and I am the legitimate ruler of Antar and B'ril."  
  
"For now, my liege." Natir gave a mocking version of the salute with which he had greeted the group upon their first arrival. "For your own protection, Queen, confine yourself to the royal quarters for the duration of the trip. And I suggest you keep an eye on your human. I doubt Khivar would take issue if your," Natir paused. "guard accidentally perished en route."  
  
"I, however, would," Tess stood as tall as possible with her five-foot-two- inch frame and protruding stomach. She grabbed Kyle's arm and pulled him after her towards the chamber.  
  
As soon as Kyle was such Natir was out sight, he shook his arm free and whirled to face Tess.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" this time there was more hurt than anger in his voice.  
  
"Silence!" Tess answered sharply. As Kyle recoiled in surprise, a trailing whisper rose to the surface of his voice.  
  
It's not safe to talk here. Wait until we get to the room and I can disable the listening devices.  
  
Once at the chambers, Tess sealed the door and busied herself at the control panels before sitting herself down with a deep groan.  
  
"What was the great plan getting us on board Natir's ship, turning on the others? I don't care how tired you are. Explain yourself!"  
  
"Kyle, I don't know. I made a stupid mistake. Nascedo made a deal with Khivar years ago for my safe passage. If I brought back the heir and made sure Max couldn't claim the throne, Khivar would protect me and protect the child-"  
  
"You were bringing us all to Khivar!" Kyle's face crumbled and was on the verge of turning to rage.  
  
"Kyle!" Tess actually looked hurt. "No! The ship was flying on a default path to Antar, but I planned to go to Nascedo's homeworld, to Shiloth. He promised that their people would always take care of us. Larek was Max's friend, not mine and I didn't know if he would let us live if he saw how tied to Earth we were. Nascedo always told me what extremists the Royalists were. They thought we were going to be the salvation of their entire system. Nascedo said that in the last life I took someone from one of the lower castes as a friend and they killed him for one innocent kiss. I didn't want to risk getting involved with them. But when Natir hailed us and asked us on board, even with humans aboard, I thought it would be best if we got on someone's ship, anyone's ship except Khivar or one of our followers. I needed a safe place, with defenses. The Granolith doesn't have that kind of capability. I thought we could pretend that Max was the father for a while. I didn't think anyone would know the difference. So I mindwarped an attack so Max would have him take us on before Khivar's people found us. I never meant to go to Khivar like Nascedo arranged. I didn't even know that Natir worked for him. Once Max called us to the Granolith and I knew who Natir was aligned with I had to get him off the ship and let the others go." Tess paused and looked down at her protruding belly, rubbing it absently. Then she continued quietly. "But L'arla was right, I'm selfish. I just couldn't go without you."  
  
Kyle wrapped his arms around Tess. She sank against him with silent sobs wracking through her body. "I've done such awful things in my last life and I'm doing them in this one too. I don't know how I keep digging myself deeper and deeper into this. I got you killed in the last life and I'm probably going to get you killed this time around."  
  
"It will work out, Tess. We'll figure this out and we'll get out off this ship and away from this blasted war. All three of us- you, me and the baby- " Kyle stopped. "Do you know, I mean, can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?"  
  
"A boy. I've been connected with him since I realized what kind of trouble he was in." Tess wiped away her tears. "Do you want to connect with him?"  
  
Kyle nodded in awe. Tess took one of his hands and placed it on her stomach. Even as he marveled at the simple miracle of feeling the life inside her, she gripped his other hand and opened a connection. The initial flood of images flowed through his mind, Tess bent over a toilet and feelings of fear, a slice of pizza in a busy restaurant far from Roswell, a genuine smile on Nascedo's face. The moment felt familiar and Kyle knew this as not the first time they had connected like this. But before he could tug forth those memories, he felt his son. He felt the faint but growing pulse, the potential, the understood love his son already had for his parents and the love that Tess had for the baby, the beautiful being they had made. In that crystal clear moment, Kyle saw the magnificence of life. He never wanted to leave that moment interlocked with his lover and their child. Too quickly, Tess broke the connection.  
  
"I'm sorry, I just can't keep it going for too long. He's still recovering and he needs all my strength."  
  
Kyle let his hand drop from her stomach but still gripped her hand. He moved onto the bed with her.  
  
"Thank you." Tess ran her fingers through Kyle's hair. "I think I'm the one who needs to thank you. You didn't even yell at me for dragging you onto this god- forsaken mission."  
  
"Whither thou goest, I shall go" Kyle planted a kiss on Tess's wilting curls. "So, what are we going to do when the ship reaches Antar?"  
  
"I'm going to do what I should have done in my last life. I'm going to kill Khivar." 


	6. Part 11

Part 11  
  
Liz sat in the room where Tess had told first told them of their past lives, fingering the dress. She had watched as many of the Arshana-narrated documentaries as possible, almost a day's worth of the stupid things, but it was all beginning to run together, so Liz had excused herself to try to get some sleep. So much had happened and she knew that likely none of them would be getting much downtime in the coming days, possibly weeks. But once in the bedroom, she felt the dress calling to her. And she was now on the verge of coaxing the memory to the surface. The tenuous connection burst when she sensed someone else in the room.  
  
"Michael, if that's you about to ask how long until we get to B'ril one more time, I swear I'm going to see if I have some blasting powers," Liz didn't turn at the movement in the door way to the royal room. Whoever it was didn't leave and Liz looked up. "Oh, Max."  
  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." Despite his apology, Max moved closer to the bed. "But we keep getting interrupted."  
  
"I know," Liz left a few inches between them, which Max quickly closed to deliver a kiss on her surprised lips. Before she knew it, Liz returned it with a hungry passion. She lifted her hands from the dress to run through his hair and lost the last grasp she had on the memory she'd been trying to recover.  
  
"Damn," Liz broke the kiss off. "I lost it."  
  
"Lost what?"  
  
"I was trying to get a memory from Kathana's dress. It has to have some significance if they put it on the ship."  
  
"Liz," Max hesitated.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Can I try with you?" an adorable shyness stole across his face.  
  
"Of course," Liz blinked and answered at once." In fact, it might help." They faced each other on the bed, legs crossed, and the smooth cloth of the wedding dress between their palms. "I don't really know what I'm doing, just trying to link the feelings I have about this dress to the memory."  
  
"I hate this dress," it came out of Max's mouth before he had a chance to consider it. Eyes closed, he let the consciousness from which this came continue. "It is wrong, it is hurt and it is a death sentence. Because I'll die without her."  
  
Max opened his eyes.  
  
"Wow, where did that come from?"  
  
"It think it came from Zan," Liz loosed one hand and brushed it over Max's eyes, closing them. "I see Ava's face buried in the folds of the fabric. I loved the feel, she loved the smell. We would try it on year after year, racing to see who would fit it first. Like our mother, we were both small and we took forever, getting closer and closer each year. I fit it first and sixteen-year-old crown princess Ava threw a tantrum. So I told her if she fell in love, she could wed in the dress, so long as one of us was happy in it. And then things were okay again between us. It was easier to just let her have it than to taint the feelings of the dress with her jealousy and hurt. But when it came time to wed and she swore she was in love, I wouldn't honor the bargain." A whole memory overcame Liz and she let it reach Max through their connection.  
  
"L'arala?" Ava's voice rang in her sister's ears for the first time in weeks. L'arala had managed to avoid contact, except for M'lin and the nauseating wooing by Khivar. Though she had blocked herself on the first walk from the gardens, Khivar did not fool her. He despised her, hated Zan, and seething anger crawled over him. His only interest in L'arala was as a grasp on B'ril and a way to further divide the people from Zan.  
  
At last, Ava had figured out where M'lin had been hiding the second in line for the throne. L'arala tensed, their connection flared for a moment before she could cut it. Ava didn't seem as happy as L'arala had expected. Satisfied, but not the beaming bride she had expected. Maybe Ava had realized what this was doing to her sister. L'arala peeked her head out from behind the corner she had instinctively darted behind. She didn't trust herself to speak, but Ava obviously knew she was there. Ava raised her head and steeled herself.  
  
"I'm leaving for Antar by the end of the week. Zan has come to get me," Ava's news hit L'arala. Before she could stop herself, her hand shot out and left a blue blossom of pain on Ava's face. Even without the connection, L'arala felt pure rage poured through Ava. As her sister's eyes melted into hot flames, L'arala expected Ava to fly at her. It might have been a relief to finally express the primal violence she had found within her. But Ava held herself back physically.  
  
"I'm sure Zan won't mind healing this for me," an emotional strike instead. L'arala flinched at the mention of her love. "I don't expect you to come, but the promise ceremony will be within the quarter. I've come for the dress."  
  
"No," feeling even more childish, L'arala stood her ground.  
  
"What do you mean, no? You swore you would let me wear it if I was in love and I am. Give me the dress!"  
  
"No, you're not and I won't give it." L'arala moved away, but Ava grabbed her by the arm.  
  
"You promised!"  
  
"What do you care of honor!" L'arala's hands crackled with an energy she didn't know she had. Her powers had always been limited to those of the mind. Ava released her as the green sparks crackled across her skin. The two sisters were locked in a silent moment of battle. At last, Ava gave in.  
  
"Fine, but you cannot ignore the decree of the House of B'ril. Let us not bring our family problems before the entire court. I'm sure they already have plenty to speak of." Ava waited for a response to no avail. L'arala kept her eyes averted and did not speak. "I know that you will not believe me, this is not the path I would have chosen, L'arala, but it is the only acceptable one open to me. I hope that you will forget this little crush you have on Zan and we can forgive each other in time."  
  
"If you wed him, if you recite those promise vows, then there will never be forgiveness."  
  
That struck Ava more deeply than L'arala's earlier smack. She realized the truth of those words, but would not speak.  
  
"Ava, I tell you as my sister, as my queen, that Zan is the one thing in this entire system that I ever wanted for myself. I have never challenged the throne, I have never spoken against you. I never asked for any part of your power. But I want him. I would gladly rule Antar in your name if you will just let me love him."  
  
"You've never challenged me?" Ava's voice hit a high pitch. "We both know the people would prefer your acquiescence, your easy hand to mine. I push them and the Senate forward, toward the progress this world needs and am hated for it."  
  
"You're not hated, Ava." L'arala found herself thrust into her old role. "But they don't want to simply abandon the mystics and the old ways. They've served us well."  
  
"On the day of my affirmation, everything I have done and want to do might all disappear because I do not genuflect to a handful of mystics. Because I believe that I can make our world something more, that I am the Chosen leader. Despite what you and Mother seem to think, I do have supporters and I will have more after this ceremony. If I have to wed Zan to bring our world out of its dark age, so be it. I will make my sacrifices." "You will sacrifice your sister." L'arala told Ava matter-of-factly.  
  
"That will be just one among many things I'll suffer to get what I want."  
  
"Ava, this is the last time we will meet as sisters, in this life and beyond." L'arala paused, waiting for anything to stop this divide. Ava did not speak. "The dress is in the silver chest in my suite, behind the full mirror. Take it and get out." Ava turned and left her sister.  
  
*****  
  
"Guys," Michael's voice came from the doorway and Liz's eyes flew open as the memory cut off. She and Max had somehow ended up with their hands interwoven and leaning forehead to forehead. They disentangled themselves as quickly as they could.  
  
"Michael, I told you. We still have a few hours until we reach the V system."  
  
"The Granolith is making some kind of signal. We think somebody's spotted us." 


	7. Part 12a and 12b

Part 12a  
  
When Liz and Max emerged from the suite, Liz swooping her hair back in a tight knot away from her face, Maria sat at the controls with Michael's hands firmly clamped on her shoulders. An image of a whirlwind galaxy was blinking in the core of the Granolith, casting a flickering light against the walls, like a T.V. in a darkened room.  
  
"Liz, I'm not really sure, but I think that signal means we're not under our own power any more." Maria gestured at the flat levels on navigation. "Someone has take over our course."  
  
"You're right. How long has it been like that?" Liz leaned over.  
  
"I checked the progress, like you said, right after Max went to.find you," Isabel, looking worn, spoke from Maria's other side.  
  
"How long were we in there?" Liz had completely lost track of time. They could have spent just a second in that memory or a day.  
  
"Just a few hours, I thought you were sleeping. I think I might have dozed off during one of the documentaries," Isabel blushed. "Michael and Maria came out of their room, finally."  
  
Those two had the decency to look a little uncomfortable and Maria made an unconscious gesture to smooth her clothes and hair.  
  
"That's when the Granolith started acting funny and then the whirly thing popped up," Maria finished. Liz and Max studied the charts.  
  
"It doesn't look as though we've altered course much," Max pointed a finger at the V system. "We're still headed to B'ril, right? We're not too far from Antar."  
  
"Yes," Liz furrowed her brow. "Whoever has us wants us and the Granolith to get to B'ril. We'll be there in just a few minutes."  
  
"Oy," Maria released a nervous breath. "If it's not one alien ship dragging us on board, it's another."  
  
Liz waited just a few seconds, pacing in nervous energy. Then she darted back into the suite and went over to the wall. She released the panel and pulled the vial containing Alex's hair, his blood, and DNA samples. Putting it in her pocket, Liz scooped up the dress from the bed and returned to the chamber. Michael, always the quick second-in-command, had gathered some of the rations and whatnot in a bag and Liz put the folded dress in with them.  
  
The women turned to cleaning up. Three days without a real shower hadn't done any of them any good. No one had yet figured out how to activate the bath units. But by the time Isabel was done, all three looked clean and presentable. Michael and Max, on the other hand, spent their time trying to read the computer logs and figure out who had locked onto their ship.  
  
"The V means Antar, right?" Michael stared at the light. "So what does this mean?"  
  
"I have no idea. It's familiar but.." Max shook his head. "I hate this. Why don't we remember these things? You'd think they'd want the Royal Four to know something about the place they're supposed to rule."  
  
"Put that on the long list of questions about the people who sent us to Earth. Why did the ship crash? Why the hell didn't our protector stay with us? Why doesn't this damn Granolith come with an instruction manual not shaped like your girlfriend?"  
  
"Liz!" Max's head snapped up. "She got a vision of a whirlwind galaxy when we-" He broke off, the tips of his ears red.  
  
"The horn-dog moment with the communicator last year?"  
  
"Yeah." Max gave a half-smile.  
  
"Maria got a vision of one of those when we were. saying goodbye before the takeoff."  
  
"Is that what they're calling it now?" Max elbowed his friend.  
  
"Well, she was saying a lot, but goodbye was really not her word choice." He kept an eye to make sure Maria was well out of hearing range. She was engrossed in trying to check out her temporary brunette locks in the shiny surface of one of the control stations. With a shake of her head, Isabel sent the locks back to their long golden curls. Michael smiled with genuine tenderness before turning back to Max. "So what word does Liz use?"  
  
"Michael!" Max scolded, then grinned. "Words aren't really involved."  
  
"So maybe the whirlwind galaxy has something to do with L'arala and M'lin? Or B'ril?"  
  
"That's what I'm thinking." They both sank into deep thought.  
  
"I miss times like these." After long pause, Michael spoke. "I mean, we may be facing certain death, but at least we're getting along."  
  
"Michael, I love your optimism." The two aliens sat in relatively comfortable silence watching the girls primp.  
  
The minutes ticked by as the group ran out of nervous tasks and took to quietly pacing the Granolith chamber. Isabel felt on the verge of exploding when Liz spoke.  
  
"We've stopped."  
  
Part 12b  
  
Isabel twisted the charm on her necklace back and forth until the chain suddenly snapped in her hand. Making a frustrated sound, Isabel shoved it in her pocket, not interested in taking the time to fix it.  
  
"Why don't they just board us or blow us up or something!" Maria marched between Michael and looking at the unchanging control panel. "It's been like an hour."  
  
"Forty-seven minutes," Liz corrected from her position, sitting cross- legged and leaning back against Max. "Maybe they don't know we're in here. Should we signal them or something?"  
  
"Better to get this over with." Max helped Liz up and they moved to the control panel. At that moment, the door to the chamber slid open.  
  
A being who looked remarkable like Natir, but with slightly different coloring, more cream than gray and her hair a bluish raven. Her nearly whiteless eyes reminded Isabel of M'lin.  
  
"By order of the high court of Kathana, sovereign of the planet of B'ril, you are ordered to appear for judgment before the court." Behind the alien woman was contingent of beings like her, all carrying black devices strapped to their palms and those devices, weapons of some kind, were pointed at the Roswell group. Slowly, the five of them moved forward and, surrounded by the guards.  
  
"Max, we've reached B'ril! This is it." Liz whispered. She squeezed his hand. Max wrapped his arm tightly around Liz's shoulders. "Kathana has to help us bring Alex back and save Kyle and Tess."  
  
"Liz, she might not believe us."  
  
"She will, she has to," Liz effectively ended the conversation. The hallway they were walking down was burnished silver, smooth and seamless. The guards prevented them from seeing much and the path chosen, winding and without windows or doors to other rooms or areas, was obviously one designed to prevent anyone from coming away with any valuable information about where they were or what they were doing. However, after a few minutes, the hallway spilled into a huge throne chamber, the Great Hall from L'arala's memories. Liz recognized it in an instant. The high arched ceilings and architecture that avoided angles in every instance, the blue whirlwind insignia on the large window that allowed a cerulean light to bath the throne and the area immediately before it. The throne itself was not very elaborate, a silver chair emblazoned with the whirlwind above the chair. In a strange way, it almost felt like a homecoming. Even more so when Liz saw the figure sitting on that throne.  
  
"I am Noril, Prime of B'ril. We are at war and you are either ally or enemy. You will have this moment before the Court to prove to us which you are. We know that you have humans among you and must have come from Earth. The question becomes who are you and what do you seek?" the booming voice came from the man standing slightly in front of the woman Liz believed to be Queen Kathana.  
  
"Tell them, Max," Liz urged.  
  
"We are the Royal," Max paused, "Four. I am Max, once Zan. A representative of the system at the Summit on Earth confirmed me last December and I bear the Royal seal. We have all returned to remove Khivar from power and to ask for your help."  
  
"Our scans showed two hybrids. You have Vilandra and Ava with you?"  
  
"Well, that's a long story, but no," Max hesitated. "My sister Vilandra, now Isabel, is here," Isabel took a small step forward, drawn up to her full regal height and her head held high. She looked every bit the royalty she had been in her last life. "But Ava was captured on our way here."  
  
"But I sense a B'ril royal among your numbers?" the man's voice wavered, confused.  
  
"One of us, Liz, was L'arala in her last life and we, I changed her."  
  
"I know you might not believe me, but I was L'arala," Liz stepped forward. "I remember her and I remember, I remember this." Liz gestured at the room, but her eyes were trying to lock with Kathana, still hidden behind her Prime. "We need your help."  
  
Noril must have sensed something change in the air, because he moved aside and at last Liz had a clear view of the woman who sat on B'ril's throne. Queen Kathana was regal in her age, but that age was obviously advanced. Her pale skin was still tight, but a distinctly different shade than Liz knew it should be. Her hair, once a proud indigo cast, was now a black darker than Liz's. She was now an inch or so shorter than Liz. In the last life, Kathana had been about L'arala's height, if not taller.  
  
Liz took a step closer to the monarch. Kathana stood and Liz closed the distance, aware that one of the guards might shoot her at any minute, but desperate for this woman whom she knew and yet was wholly alien and unfamiliar to believe her. They stood only inches apart.  
  
Kathana's frail arm reached up to Liz's face. She ran a cool palm across Liz's warm forehead, then her fingers through Liz's dark mane. Liz locked eyes with the Queen, submerging herself in the large violet irises and trying to open a connection with the woman the way she did with Max. It was just a flicker compared to what she had with Max, but Liz felt Kathana's age, her acute hope, and an impression of expectation.  
  
"The Great One has returned one of my daughters to me. The mystics were right, we just didn't understand him," Kathana whispered into the silence of the Great Hall. She ran her hand down the side of Liz's face and brought Liz toward her. Then she spoke into Liz's ear alone. "My daughter. I thought I would never see you again in this lifetime. I treasure this moment above all others."  
  
Liz began to cry and allowed herself to be wrapped in Kathana's arms.  
  
"Mother, thank you." She wiped away the tears and took a step back. "We've come to help free B'ril and the rest of the system, but first I have a request to make."  
  
"You can have anything, my child," Kathana still held Liz's hand.  
  
"We need to use the mystics. Maria was once M'lin and Alior was reborn as our friend Alex." Liz paused, glossing over Tess's involvement. "He was killed and it was our fault. We need to bring him back, I need him back."  
  
"My child, at your word, it shall be done." Kathana seemed happy she could give Liz something. "In less than one solar day, we will have the hybrid body ready. You will have your Alior, your Alex back." 


	8. Part 13a and 13b

Thanks for all the feedback!! I definitely appreciate it!  
  
Author's Note: I'm totally frelling with the Roswell timeline for Kyle and Tess here. In my world, Tess and Kyle have been covertly together since about Summer of '47.  
  
Part 13a  
  
Kyle stared at Tess, her worn face and the ever-present weight that seemed to rest on her shoulders. He sat up straight, ready to shake the mother of his child for the idea that she would try to kill the fiend that had slaughtered her in her last life.  
  
"You're what?"  
  
"I'm the only one who will be in a position to do it. I have to kill Khivar," Tess looked on the verge of begging him. "I'll be able to surprise him. He thinks I've betrayed Zan again and I'm pregnant. With your help, I- we can do this."  
  
"We nothing! You can't do this, especially in your condition," Kyle hissed the last word and Tess smiled despite herself.  
  
"My condition? How very 1950's, Kyle," she ran a hand against Kyle's face.  
  
"Tess, don't try to distract me."  
  
"Me? Try to distract you?" Tess pulled herself closer to Kyle, delivering a gentle press of lips below his chin and then along his jaw line. She might have succeeded if a wave of exhaustion hadn't caused her hand to tremble.  
  
"See? You're way too weak, Tess. We have to work on keeping you healthy. You can't try to pull any crap with Khivar. You and our son come first and I don't care what the high and mighty Max has to say about it."  
  
"Kyle, this isn't about what Max has to say. This is about being able to live with myself and look our son in the eye once he's born. I can't waste two lifetimes cheating the people who mean the most to me for my gain."  
  
"God, Tess," Kyle sighed. "I just want you and our son on a high-speed space ship back to Earth. And, if this is going to be like the rest of my life where I never get what I really want, I at least want you healthy before you try something stupid. Promise me you will not leave this bed unless you absolutely have to."  
  
"Kyle, I won't make promises I don't intend to keep," Tess answered.  
  
"Then we have to find some way to get you better, or we'll just have to wait until after our son is born."  
  
"I didn't want to ask you to do this, but there is something we can." Tess bit her lip.  
  
"What?"  
  
"If this," she hesitated. "If we were bonded, I wouldn't be getting weaker. And we could better protect our son."  
  
"What do you mean 'bonded?'" Kyle asked, a confused look on his face. Tess blushed and looked down.  
  
"Among my people, the family structure is fundamental, the way the four square is for Max, Michael, Isabel, and I. We can function all right on our own, but the whole is much more than the sum of its parts. The parents of a child create a sort of looping circuit that reinforces itself and serves as one of the most enduring entities in any child's life. Both of the parents open a semi-permanent connection for the child that gives him spiritual and even physical strength he can draw on. It's like what we just did, but I'd show you how to open up and keep it going. On Antar, they call it bonding. The two of us can give him strength. And each other. It's supposed to happen after the parents are formally united in a promise ceremony. But we already have a nascent connection anyway, so we can perform the rites."  
  
"You're absolutely certain there's no way I could talk you out of this Khivar crap?"  
  
"I have to do this, Kyle. Please try to understand."  
  
Kyle wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rested the other on her stomach. "Then take my strength, take it all." Tess let him stay near her and interwove their arms in an endless pattern, fingers locked, wrapped around and around, taking solace in his presence.  
  
"Let our minds pass into each other, our consciousness become one. We must find a memory." Tess stopped speaking aloud. Their eyes met. Memories traced through their minds, a fast blur of colors, unclear, until they locked on one moment, a simple moment.  
  
Tess and Kyle, alone in the Valenti kitchen, setting the table for dinner, her small hand passed a plate into his waiting hand. As the forks, the spoons, the napkins were set, they met in feather-light touches, almost accidents as they reached across the table. Tess smiled and positioned a vase of flowers on the table, flowers that had just mysteriously appeared on her bed this afternoon, without a note, without a word. She leaned against Kyle several seconds too long, wanting to sigh like the schoolgirl she should have been and swoon. But she reluctantly moved away, to the living room to retrieve the chair she had begun using. Without missing a beat, Kyle followed. "Take mine," Kyle set his hand on hers. Tess looked into his eyes and almost started to cry. Never before had anyone given her anything freely. Always because she was the Queen, because she had manipulated or mind warped. But Kyle she had never even tried to control and wasn't even tempted. He made her want to be a better person.  
  
Kyle, who, for so long and like so many, had been so unable to forget his first love, Liz, now realized he only had eyes for Tess. Like Liz, she had taken the time to get to know him before just passing him off as a know- nothing jock. Even with destiny and her entire life's training working against her, Tess still took interest in him, wanted him. And he wanted her. They fell back against the patch of warm sunlight on the living room couch. Even while fumbling with buttons and zippers, they kept their eyes hungrily locked on each other.  
  
Kyle almost didn't realize when he had transitioned from Tess's eyes in the memory and her eyes in the present, except for the faint buzz of energy that he knew was his son. He was overcome with that same sort of feeling of cosmic awareness, the kind he touched upon when he meditated. But this was the height of energy expended and returned during the long stretch of a good run. The world stretched for a moment, then snapped back into place and locked. With his hand in hers, he could feel Tess, feel their son. A feeling like déjà vu, Kyle knew that they were almost complete, but for the final vows that he and Tess had to take.  
  
"There is no greater bond than this," they moved forward, touching temples, "to give one's life that another should live." He knew the bonding was complete and neither of them would never be the same.  
  
Part 13b  
  
As they moved to the labs beneath the palace, Queen Kathana kept touching Liz, an absent stroke of Liz's hair, a guiding hand along the small of her back, every few minutes as though afraid she would slip into the ether. Liz didn't remember this kind of affection in L'arala's life. Kathana had been warm and even openly affectionate in the rare instances of complete privacy, but very austere in public. And now Liz felt deeply and emotionally tied to her. Nancy Parker felt like Mom, but Kathana felt like Mother. The group had passed through a sterile field that left them tingling and their ears buzzing and now they were deep in the underground lab, Liz clutching Alex's DNA with a death grip. Kathana had led the way to the chamber.  
  
"This is it," Kathana swept a hand around the room, indicating the stretch of high tech equipment. With the exception of the equipment that was so obviously beyond anything on Earth, the lab was a bit anti-climactic. Smooth white floors, well-swept lab tables, something close to a sink. Liz felt the beginnings of a flash. L'arala had spent much of her time in a place like this, but with plants and windows.  
  
"Did this room used to have plants or something like that?" Liz asked Kathana, who beamed in response like a proud mother.  
  
"Not this room, but L'arala had a work station very much like this. It was at ground level and where she worked on genetic manipulations for the crops. I found you asleep on one of these tables more often than not." Kathana held back yet another touch when a woman stepped forward, in a gray apron of sorts.  
  
"My lady," the woman bobbed.  
  
"Healer Tiersa, my youngest daughter, L'arala, has been reborn and returned to us," Kathana expressed what could almost be called bubbly enthusiasm. "She brings with her King Zan, his Prime Rath, Princess Vilandra, and M'lin." Kathana indicated each of them as she rattled off their names with an air of authority. Then she hesitated. "L'arala is now the girl Elizabeth, and she has an assignment for you."  
  
The Healer came close to Liz, head cocked to the side as though listening, and suddenly exclaimed, "Lady L'arala!" The woman bowed down and extended her hands before Liz, palms down.  
  
"I wish you would call me Liz, please," Liz had absolutely no idea how to handle this situation. She suddenly wished she'd paid more attention to The Princess Diaries instead of necking with Max. Improvising and following her instincts, Liz placed her palms flat against the Healer's and nodded her head, keeping it above the Healer.  
  
"Healer Tiersa, I need you to help me get someone back," with not a little bit of fear and hesitation, Liz handed the vial to the woman. "My friend Alex. He was killed not too long ago and we need him back. As soon as possible."  
  
"Of course, Lady Liz. I can recreate the genetic structure, if." the Healer looked at Queen Kathana, who nodded.  
  
"I shall ensure that the rest of the necessary elements are provided."  
  
"Then it will be completed in less than one solar day."  
  
"You really can do this in a day?" Michael questioned. "Didn't it take like forty years to make us?"  
  
"We have made many advancements in technology since the dark days of the end of your last lives. While Tiersa begins the process, I want to bring you to L'arala's quarters and you can rest." Kathana turned to lead them away and the Healer began collecting tools. Isabel dawdled, for the first time in a while enjoying relative safety.  
  
"Isabel," the one word and she knew he'd returned.  
  
"Alex!" Isabel whirled around. There was Alex, leaning against the lab table.  
  
"Princess Vilandra?" Tiersa turned as the door to the second lab slid open.  
  
"Sorry, it was nothing, Healer. I just had a strong sense of déjà vu."  
  
"Yes, milady," Tiersa looked confused but bobbed her head and backed out of the room as the door slid shut.  
  
"That was such a lame lie. Fortunately for you, it's considered a cardinal sin for anyone other than a Prime or a Senator to question the royalty." Alex moved closer to Isabel, with only a few inches between them.  
  
"You're the own making me look like I'm talking to myself," Isabel meant it come out as an accusation, but it was almost a whisper.  
  
"I just came because it looks like you're going to do this thing."  
  
"Yes, we'll have you here, really here before long." Isabel reached a hand up and ran it a breath away from his face.  
  
"I won't stop you. I can't bring myself to. But I just have a bad feeling about this."  
  
"I don't care. You were wrong about Tess and Kyle. They betrayed us to Natir and almost got us all killed." She dropped her hand and took a step back.  
  
"Adversity is the first path to truth."  
  
"Yeah, well, thanks to your stellar advice, we're short two of those 'trusted' people for this journey."  
  
"Please believe me that I know you need trust each other. Tess made yet another one of her tragic mistakes. She and Kyle." Alex's eyes seemed to look at a point just past Isabel's head. "I'm not allowed to tell you what they're up to.  
  
"Why not? It's not like I could do anything about it?"  
  
"'For knowledge itself is power.'" Alex shrugged and avoided looking at her.  
  
With one hand on her hip, Isabel caught Alex's eyes with her own. "What is the good of having access to cosmic knowledge if you can share it with any of us lowly mortals?"  
  
"Isabel, I don't know everything. And, come on, do you really think they'd let a computer geek bassist Isabel-obsessed guy from Roswell decide to change the order of the universe?"  
  
"I think you should."  
  
"Thanks for the confidence, but believe me, if I got to change the order of the universe, we wouldn't get anything done. Well, nothing relevant to the current crisis anyway."  
  
"Isn't that my line?" Isabel  
  
"Sounded better when you said it anyway." Alex leaned in and brought his forehead against hers. "Iz, close your eyes. I have to go soon, Tiersa is getting to the point of no return. But I want to leave this with you. If you need it, you'll know to use it."  
  
Isabel nodded and then a flash that felt like the very essence of Alex came to her. She gasped as the intensity, so swift that she didn't have time to analyze it before it passed into her subconscious like a dream forgotten.  
  
"What was that exactly?"  
  
"Nothing I can put into words." Alex looked at Isabel. "And in case your penchant for premonitions has passed to me and my bad feeling comes true-"  
  
He leaned in and Isabel felt his lips on hers. Not the cool resistance that had come when she had touched him last, but felt him as when he was alive. Alex even felt warm. His hands tangled in her hair and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. The smell of him came to her as if on a breeze, strong but not constant. Hungrily she held onto the kiss, a kiss she feared would be their last, until she finally had to break for a breath. And then he was gone. 


	9. Part 14

Part 14a  
  
Isabel rushed down the hall, trusting instinct to find the rest of the group more than anything else. At one of the bends in the hall, she bumped into her brother.  
  
"Izzy!" Max threw his arm over her. "Wondered where you'd gotten off to."  
  
"I saw Alex again."  
  
"You told him what we're going to do?"  
  
"He didn't really need to be told," Isabel picked up the pace. "And Alex didn't sound too confident about it either. He said he had a bad feeling about it."  
  
"Did he tell you not to do it?" Max stopped.  
  
"No."  
  
"Then it's okay. If we're not supposed to do, Alex would stop us."  
  
"Max, I want him back. More than I've ever wanted anything in my whole life. But I don't want to lose Alex for the rest of eternity. What if we screw up his essence and I can't even have him in the next life?"  
  
"Iz, we'll have him back in this one. I can't promise you a normal life or even a safe one, but what I can promise you is that you'll spend your time on B'ril with Alex. You will finally make some good memories out of being an alien princess."  
  
"God, Max, you sound so cheesy? Alien princess?" Isabel teased him, batting his arm lightly.  
  
"Hey, I get to be cheesy on purpose once in a while. King's prerogative." The two finally reached the formal parlor behind the Great Hall where the others were waiting. Kathana sat in a less formal version of her throne. Liz sat just to her right, trying to describe Earth to Kathana and telling the queen about what was once the life of the smallest of small town girls.  
  
This place felt more comfortable to Liz than the Great Hall had been, though not as familiar as the lab. The plush fabrics and soothing scene of blues and purples. A vid screen featured a frozen image of a B'ril man Liz knew to be Kathana's husband, her father. Liz felt a piece of knowledge appear in her consciousness. Her father's name was Alteon and he had died early in an accident that sent his transport spiraling into the heart of the star at the heart of the V system, making a healing virtually impossible. When Kathana saw Max and Isabel enter, she put a hand on Liz and rose.  
  
"I know you all likely wish to rest, but there are certain people who must see you. Not least of which are the people of B'ril. I'm sure that word has spread quickly that L'arala and the Royal Four have returned. This very news may be the encouragement the Resistance needs to rally against Khivar." Queen Kathana delivered her words as though they were a suggestion, but the meetings would definitely take place.  
  
"We understand," Max had moved to Liz's side, his hand resting on the small of her back.  
  
"And for these meetings, you will need to don more-" Kathana pursed her lips, "traditional attire. All of you."  
  
She hit a panel on the arm of her chair and a contingent of the palace staff appeared, two males and three females. "These people will help you select appropriate ensembles for the afternoon activities."  
  
"Now this part of the alien adventure I like." Maria said just above a whisper to Liz as they left the room, each with their own attendant.  
  
**********  
  
The women of Roswell found themselves in a large dressing area, a much more opulent version of a store dressing room. Given the opportunity, their attendants, who bobbed and quickly said their names, then brought out skids of clothing. It seemed the color of B'ril's Royal House was blue, while Antar's was purple. Liz and Maria's choices seemed to feature blue only while Isabel's were nothing but various shades of purple. With such a wealth of options and no idea what look she was going for exactly, Liz couldn't even narrow it down. Finally, her attendant, Kao, pulled several gowns for her. After a few trials, Liz finally donned a simple blue gown, very similar to what Kathana wore, in a rich blue that seemed to bring out dark highlights in her hair. Maria's ensemble reminded Liz of what Maria had worn to Prom, very loose and flowing in light blue. Isabel, however, put both them to shame in a purple dress, a full skirt that would have made anyone else look like a grape. The attendants flitted around, adjusting the clothes and using their powers to adapt hair and makeup, leaving all three with their hair flowing down. At last the attendants, who had spoken very little, pronounced them fit for Court.  
  
"Thank you, your highnesses," the three chimed and left the room.  
  
"Thank you,"  
  
"I've never felt so much like a Barbie in my life," Maria half-whined as she tried to conceal a smile.  
  
"I bet the boys are having an even worse time as Dress-Me-Ken dolls," Liz grinned and led the way back to the parlor. B'ril, perhaps because it was a matriarchal world, provided comfortable women's footwear: almost a slipper, light on the feet with a tiny heel. They reached the parlor and Liz was right, Max and Michael were already there and did not look as though they'd had a fun couple of hours. They were in deliciously tight pants with simple purple tunics and leather vests. Liz grinned at Max; the male traditional wear was a little more alien than the women's. Though the cut was a little different, the dress Liz wore was fairly close to some of Earth's fashions and didn't make her fool half so foolish as she knew Max and Michael both did. The tips of Max's ears were a bright scarlet and Michael refused to look up.  
  
"As always, Michael, I am the better dressed half of this couple," Maria moved over to him.  
  
"The officers of the Royal Army will arrive shortly and with their escort we shall proceed to the garden, where many of the people have gathered. Then I wish that you would speak with Noril to plan Ava's rescue." Mention of Tess quieted the group, who had managed to repress the recent events.  
  
"I want to talk to Max," Michael looked up at Maria, who nodded, and her boyfriend moved toward Max.  
  
Maria sighed. At least Michael had sort of excused himself this time. Maybe being in the presence of Royals and being treated like one was wearing off on him. Liz was talking with a worried Isabel. Maria moved about the room, looking at the cavernous space. It was almost larger than her entire house in Roswell. Walking along the wall, a hand brushed on the cool walls, she spotted something resting strategically on a gilded bench. It was an instrument of some sort. Her hands glided over the protruding polished pegs, careful not to move them. The strings were completely smooth, unlike the ridged wires of guitar strings. The body was smaller, more like a mandolin, though this had only six strings.  
  
"L'arala tells me you were once M'lin," Kathana spoke from behind her.  
  
"Queen Kathana!" Maria jumped and moved her hand from the instrument. She kept her eyes down and bowed her head. "Uh, yes, I guess that's true. I mean, I don't really have any vivid memories like Liz has. But I remember some of M'lin."  
  
Kathana reached a hand to Maria and guided her face to eye level. "First, please call me Kathana. M'lin was the daughter of my husband's sister. She died early in life and M'lin always had a place at court while her father went off-world. L'arala was fortunate to have M'lin. She was almost a sister to her. And I can see that in this life as well."  
  
"Thank you," her words were a reverent whisper.  
  
"This is a qualtar, used by some of our most accomplished musicians. It was one of M'lin's favored items." Queen Kathana saw the hungry look on Maria's face. "I will have this sent to your quarters."  
  
"Oh, Kathana!" A genuine smile spread across Maria's face. "Thank you!"  
  
"Thank me by relearning how to play it and play for the Court at Ava's homecoming," Kathana's warm thoughts tensed Maria a little and she could suppress the shock of hate that raced through her. The queen, however, was distracted by the arrival of Noril and did not appear to notice Maria's reaction.  
  
"Noril, we are ready?"  
  
"Yes, milady." A contingent of troops, in blue and gold regalia, entered the room. Two soldiers moved to flank each person in the room while the others waited to accompany the entire group. Max moved toward Liz, but Kathana had already linked arms with her daughter. Max retreated to walk with Isabel.  
  
"Daughter, I would speak with you-" Kathana paused, keeping her voice lowered. "You cannot seem. overly affectionate to Zan."  
  
Liz looked alarmed. "I didn't mean to-"  
  
"I know that you are only now becoming reacquainted with the responsibility of rank. And I don't want to punish you. I do know something about forbidden love." Kathana carefully nodded a head at Noril, her Prime who was leading and busy talking to Michael. Liz tried to conceal her surprise. Nothing in their body language, nothing in her demeanor had, to that point, indicated anything but pure professional interaction. "The last time I saw my daughter, she left in anger and she left with Khivar. The people's memories are long and imperfect. There were rumors that L'arala had allied herself with Khivar against Antar to overthrow Ava." "That can't be what happened!" Liz protested.  
  
"I know, my child. But as the head of state, the representation of our world and our people, our family squabbles gain a larger theater and our mistakes, large and small, can affect all of B'ril, the entire system." Kathana glanced back at Max and Isabel. "I do not know what happened to my children on Antar. Every person who witnessed their fall, save Khivar, was slaughtered by his troops. If Alior hadn't managed to retrieve their bodies, there would be no Royal Four and Khivar would have no opposition to the throne."  
  
"But Zan didn't love Ava," Liz had held back the tears. She could tell that Kathana was trying to save her hurt later, but to know that still Kathana sided with Ava's fraudulent marriage.  
  
"I grow more and more certain that you are my daughter. You still have not learned that love often has very little to do with marriage. And even less so in a Royal coupling." They had almost reached the garden and stopped at the gate to wait for the rest of the group. Kathana looked directly at Liz. "If I could grant either of my daughters the love matches they desired, I would. But I want to protect them more. And, for now, your best protection is to conceal anything but a sisterly concern for Zan. Prepare to greet your people."  
  
The opaque gate, the only archaic doors Liz had seen in the entire palace, swung open. The roar of the crowd swelled in Liz's ears and she realized that thousands of people were packed into the garden and thousands more watched vids from outside the garden walls. When Noril began to announce them, beginning with Maria and the cheers of a desperate people rocked each of them, Liz understood that whatever had happened in her last life, the Royals were still well-loved. It was when the seemingly unending procession of people started and one women began to cry when Isabel took her hand that Liz began to understand how important they were to these people. That, more than the trip across the galaxy, Tess's betrayal, the influx of memories, and all that they had faced, frightened Liz to her core.  
  
The reception of the people lasted hours. Only when Kathana noticed Liz and Maria tremble as they reached for people that she directed the guards to cut off the line. Cries of disappointment and protest came from the throng, but Kathana was immovable and they were led to a suite of rooms near Kathana, the women on one side of the hall and Max and Michael on the opposite.  
  
"Get what sleep you can while you can. I have several meetings with my generals for briefings, but I will send attendants with clothes and morning meal at dawn's break. A beautiful night," Kathana closed the door, leaving the five of them to their own devices.  
  
"Let's take her advice and sleep. This is probably the last chance we'll have to enjoy palace bedrooms for a while," Max moved toward Liz and the nearby bedroom, but she pretended not to notice, unwilling to disobey Kathana but afraid that a night together in this palace would lead to the very thing Kathana had worried about. She smiled faintly, but didn't touch him.  
  
"You're right, see you two tomorrow then?" Liz scuttled toward the bedroom. Maria shrugged and followed. Isabel gave Max and Michael hugs, then the three headed to bed.  
  
*******  
  
A trill of notes was getting progressively louder, pulling Isabel from a deep sleep.  
  
"What the hell is that?" she barked. The door to their room opened and a fairly frightened attendant stood there. Isabel automatically used her powers to make herself presentable.  
  
"Milady, the queen thought you'd want to know immediately."  
  
"Know what?"  
  
"Healer Tiersa has finished her work and awaits your group." The attendant barely had time to move to the side as Isabel ran out of the room to the lab. She slid through the halls, running faster than she ever had before. At the lab, she paused only long enough for Tiersa to look up at her, surprised.  
  
"Lady Vilandra?"  
  
"Where is he?"  
  
"In the next room, but milady, there's-"  
  
"Thanks," Isabel waved off whatever lengthy explanation Tiersa had intended to make. She waved open the door. He wasn't facing her and didn't seem to notice that anyone had entered. He sat on a long metal table, in a blue tunic, with some kind of data pad in his hands. For a moment, Isabel hesitated. Maybe he wasn't done, maybe.  
  
Alex turned around. "Izzy?"  
  
"Alex!" Isabel flew at him and landed in his arms.  
  
"Isabel," Alex whispered and gave a patented Whitman smile. Isabel wasted no more words. Her lips met his and it was the same solid warmth that she had felt from a not-so-corporeal Alex the day before. Isabel barely noticed the data pad he had been clutching fall to the ground. She kept her hands on him and her eyes open, terrified that he would disappear or that this was a horrible dream. But she could feel him in her mind a solid presence, not a clear, but definitely there. Through the open connection, she tried sending him every memory of Alex she had. He hungrily returned the kiss in a way Alex never had before and drank in the memories. The kiss she started lasted until they heard the door again and a loud sob. They broke the kiss as Maria and Liz ended up sprawled across them both in a huge hug. Among her friends, in Alex's arms, Isabel rested her head on his chest just to hear his heart beat. No matter what happened with Khivar, she knew at this moment that Alex was the one she loved and she would fight for a long, healthy life with him at her side. 


	10. Part 15

Part 15  
  
After multiple attempts, Tiersa finally managed to make enough noise to get the attention of the group by banging her data pad against the shelf with a loud clanging.  
  
"I understand how you all must feel," Tiersa paused as Liz and Maria wiped the last of their tears from their faces. All of the stress of the last few days had come pouring out in sobs, shaking and silent, as all three refused to release Alex, who hadn't said anything but kept a tight lock on Isabel. "However, we are not even close to finished with your friend. His memories are nowhere near complete. I am quite surprised Alex would even remember any of you yet. I couldn't even prompt his name only a few minutes ago."  
  
Everyone looked at Alex expectantly.  
  
"My name is Alex Whitman and I am from the planet Earth," it sounded too rehearsed to Isabel. Like he was reading a script. That was when Isabel glanced at the data pad he had dropped when she first walked in. On the screen was what looked like a biography, lines of text and her picture, then Liz and Maria, then Max and Michael.  
  
"You didn't really remember me, did you?" Isabel tried to keep the disappointment from showing. But she must have failed because Alex hesitated. "I'd understand."  
  
Alex brought a gentle hand to Isabel's cheek. "I have some impressions, and I knew that I could call you Izzy, but."  
  
"Nothing else?" Isabel questioned, keeping considerably calm as her heart began to ache.  
  
"Oh, Alex," Liz's eyes were tearing up and she let Max wrap his arms around her, forgetting Kathana's admonition and Tiersa's watchful eyes. She and Maria leaned against each other and took a step back.  
  
"I'm sorry, but I must speak. Alex must see the mystic promptly. The sooner his memories are activated, the better. Until then, we must minimize all other sensory stimulation." Tiersa shifted her weight and bounced the data pad against the palm of her hand. "Please wait in the other room. I will provide you with an account of his condition and further treatment once I have performed my scans and have contacted the Queen."  
  
The group quietly filed out, Maria and Liz casting a hopeful half smile at Alex as they left. Isabel lingered and debated trying to stay, but Tiersa shooed her out.  
  
"Milady, I suspect that if you stay, he will have nothing but sensory stimulation."  
  
Isabel moved to the waiting area, but couldn't stay. A wash of her last moments with Alex came over her and she stepped into the hallway. Michael glanced at Max, who seemed torn between staying with Liz and chasing after his sister, and then pulled Maria with him after Isabel.  
  
"Come on, you need to be the emotional comforting type while she cries on my shoulder," they let the door slide shut behind them. Max pulled Liz close to him and tried to wrap his arms around her. After taking just a moment to indulge in Max's embrace, Liz pushed herself away.  
  
"Max, we need to talk."  
  
"Liz, what's the matter?" Max had the wounded puppy look, but kept his hands to himself.  
  
"Kathana spoke to me yesterday about the two of us."  
  
"What did she say?" Max clenched his fists, trying not to get angry.  
  
"She told me that we couldn't be together in public. And she's right."  
  
"What do you mean? How do you know?" Max's anger dissipated into fear. Liz had the same resolution coursing through her when she had stuck by the pretense of sleeping with Kyle. At least he could be sure that their connection was still true. He had known that her feelings hadn't changed, that she still loved him, but it was just the people around them that made her hurt him.  
  
"This must be what it feels like to be schizophrenic." Liz's voice cracked. "I'm still Liz, but I'm L'arala, too. She knows what we have to do. Even though part of me, most of me, is a small town girl who waits tables, has memorized half the human genome project results, and wants nothing more than to marry her high school sweetheart, but this other part knows exactly how delicate court politics can be, how much they dictate behavior. Whether we like it or not, we have to follow the rules."  
  
"Liz, I know that it seems overwhelming, but we are not Zan and L'arala. We are Max and Liz and we defy definition."  
  
"Our bodies are different but the players, you, me, Tess, we're still the same and we're still stuck in the same act. For all intents and purposes, on this planet, we are who we used to be. Kathana told me that there were rumors that L'arala had joined with Khivar to steal Zan and take the throne from Ava."  
  
"Liz, that's stupid. You have more honor than anyone I know. You gave up an entire life and let us treat you like crap to save us all."  
  
"Max," Liz brushed a finger lightly across his face, "you have more faith in me than I ever will. I can only be noble for so long and I know L'arala did something." Liz trailed off, her gaze focused on something in the distance, and then came back to the present. "I don't know what happened exactly, but L'arala and I are very much alike and I think she reached her breaking point. Maybe she wanted Zan so badly that she did betray her sister. Maybe the rumors were true."  
  
"I know you and I do remember somethings about L'arala. The only thing she loved more than Zan was B'ril. But that doesn't even matter to me. I don't want a kingdom; I don't want to rule a world. I just want you."  
  
"Max, you don't understand yet. Did you see the people yesterday? They were desperate just to see us. For them, we're the embodiment of a world. The monarchy as it should be isn't about making the laws or having power, it's about unifying a world and personifying a people's respect and trust so that we can force those with the formal power to use it appropriately. That's why the mystics, a group apart from the common people, with powers none of us have, must affirm all members of the royal line. And that's why we have to be held to a different standard. And that's also something that Khivar never understood. For Zan and L'arala, even for Ava, it was never about power and that's why we were and are destined to have the throne."  
  
"But, Liz, I won't rule anything," Max grabbed her hands in a death grip and made sure she looked at him while he spoke. "I can't rule anything without you."  
  
Liz winced at once again being the cause of the despair in Max's eyes. "Max, I'm not giving you up forever. Just until we can."  
  
"Until we can what, Liz? Get Tess back? Defeat Khivar? Reconstruct the entire political infrastructure of the planets? At what point will it finally be okay for us to love each other?"  
  
"Max." Liz looked as though she was about to cry, so totally torn between her love for him and her sense of duty.  
  
"I told you that you were my destiny and that hasn't changed. If the people won't accept that, I'll abdicate. Let Tess and Kyle rule."  
  
"Max, I want to talk to Kathana about this."  
  
"You will soon have the opportunity," Tiersa spoke from the entryway. Liz hastily slid away from Max. They hadn't heard the door slide open and had no idea how what the healer had seen or heard. "I signaled the Queen and we will meet the mystic at one of the bases. Where is the rest of your company?"  
  
Liz took the opportunity to retrieve them and compose herself. They weren't far from the lab and Isabel seemed much more collected.  
  
"We shall leave immediately from the palace. A detachment of guards is waiting, but I'm afraid we cannot take the entire contingent. Only myself, Alex, Noril and no more than two of your party. The Queen will remain at the palace with the rest of your group." Tiersa spoke as she packed a satchel with data pads and cards. Alex stood just behind her, looking lost and uncertain.  
  
"I'll come," Isabel volunteered quickly.  
  
"Izzy, are you sure?" Max checked.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine," she waved Max's concern off with far more nonchalance than she actually felt.  
  
"I'll go, too," Liz spoke, staring intently at the floor. "If it's okay with Maria." Maria nodded her consent.  
  
"Then I suggest you each pack a small bag and say your goodbyes. We shall meet you at the transport bay." Tiersa led the way, but Alex stopped at the exit, meeting Isabel's longing gaze with his curious one. Fighting the urge to jump into his arms, Isabel tried to see her Alex in his eyes. Time froze for them and Isabel felt on the verge of something, the same something that she had almost sensed when they had kissed. But they were again interrupted when Tiersa returned for her wayward patient. Her reverence for the royals had given way to a no-nonsense bedside manner as she almost yanked Alex out of the room. "I swear, you are just as stubborn in this incarnation as you were as Alior. If we do not move quickly and avoid any more of uncontrolled contact, Serena will have nothing but hormones and angst to deal with." 


	11. Part 16

Part 16  
  
"B'ril has very advanced cloning technologies, doesn't it?" Liz had decided she had to take her mind of the impending meeting with the infamous Serena and listening to the science of the hybrids and cloning would do it.  
  
"Yes," Tiersa spoke in the clear intonation of a college professor. "Hundreds of solar cycles ago, we worked closely with Antar and cloned the first Antarian organ for a primitive transplantation technique. Nothing further was done beyond medical research and some limited biotechnical applications. The mystics were very wary about the morality of application to people. However, after his pet died, a healer named Gregor cloned it in totality, without problems. He then worked with his wife, a mystic herself, to retrieve the animal's essence and restore it. It was their simple trial that led to use among our people, for victims of the limited crime that plagued our worlds, accidents, and those that the mystics saw fit."  
  
"If it's such a simple procedure, why did it take so long to bring back the Royal Four?" Liz interrupted.  
  
"They are not clones." Tiersa hesitated and pulled out a data pad with a simple DNA helix illustration that Liz had seen time and time again. The healer brought up two more DNA strands, that looked similar, but Tiersa zoomed in on specific fragments, revealing one decidedly different from the human strand and the other close but not quite. "On the left is a human DNA strand, in the middle Antarian DNA, and last hybrid DNA. Human and Antarian DNA are very close, general biological structures and functions are virtually indistinguishable. DNA is approximately a 99% match. All other physical differences are just that. There is a very intriguing hypothesis that the population of Earth was the result of a lost exploration unit several thousand cycles ago," Tiersa suggested.  
  
"Really?" Liz perked up. "Earth evolution has looked for the missing link between ourselves and our ape-like ancestors. It's kind of comforting to think maybe we didn't come from monkeys."  
  
"Descended from monkeys? Psht!" Tiersa made a rude noise, dismissing the theory. "That, I can assure you is wholly impossible. I would sooner believe that B'ril would rotate backwards through the sun."  
  
"Do you have any of the books on these theories?"  
  
"Yes, I'm sure Queen Kathana has the data pads in what's left of the Royal Library. I shall have the records sent to your room upon our return." Tiersa fiddled with the data pad for a moment before returning to the conversation. "To process the oxygen they breathe, Antarians require a nutrient that is found in great abundance in our system, but not found on Earth. We cannot function for more than a few solar days without it. Therefore, needed to combine the DNA such that Zan would be able to successfully resume the throne, survive on Earth, and access his powers."  
  
"I thought their powers were essentially human?" Liz remembered Nascedo saying something along those lines.  
  
"Yes and no. Humans are, of course, completely capable of accessing these powers just as we do; however, at this point in time, they simply do not utilize enough of their brain functions to do so. Rather than take time to advance human brain functions, we designed the hybrid minds to function as Antarians would." Tiersa looked directly into Liz's inquisitive gaze for the first time on the journey. "Are you aware of the second set of hybrids on Earth?"  
  
Liz nodded and checked to see if Isabel was listening, but the princess was off in her own world, staring at Alex every few seconds but paying attention to little else. The hybrids and the potential to evil that they had represented disturbed all of them to this day.  
  
"They were an.incorrect approach to solving this problem and the mystics refused to instill the essences that would have made them the Royal Four. We were unwilling to just kill them in cold blood, so we decided to give them basic memories and use them as decoys."  
  
"Why can't we remember our lives? Alex will, won't he?" Isabel was not as oblivious as Liz had thought and now turned to participate in Tiersa's little history lecture.  
  
"Of course, Alex will. He is neither a hybrid nor lacking in access to a mystic. As for the Royal Four, you were sent down with an entire contingent of scientists, guards, and mystics. It was our intention that they emerged as fully cognizant adults. The mystics would have then restored their memories. In fact, Serena may be able to restore yours now."  
  
"The mystics were killed and the pods were damaged." Liz theorized. The time lag had bothered her since she had known the truth about Max. "How exactly did all this happen?"  
  
"B'ril's flagship had brought them to Earth's orbit and conducted the final preparations, growing interim husks for the Antarians and B'ril escorts, but all of the actual work had to be completed in Earth's atmosphere. A group was prepared and the ship sent down, but Khivar had been watching and chose to attack. The ships crashed and almost all aboard were killed. Those who survived soon died without the husks. One relay from the one you call Nascedo reached the ship, saying only that he had safely hidden the pods. For so long, there was absolutely no sign of your existence. The pods must have developed on their own and something caused them to break open. Perhaps fate took a hand, as the mystics say. For, thank the stars, you have all returned to us and at the most vital of times. I enjoy having an opportunity to educate young ones again, but I must prepare for our arrival." Tiersa bowed and headed to the far end of the glide car. Liz and Isabel sat back to absorb and analyze Tiersa's information before they had to meet with Serena, the would-be future friend, Alex's potential savior, and mystic extraordinaire.  
  
The building where Serena resided reminded Liz less of the church or temple she had expected and more of a mid-town office building. A clean beige shade, with even rows of opaque but not uninviting windows, it sat amidst a grouping of similar buildings. No one was on the streets and the glide car whisked quickly into a sort of underground version of the transport bay they had left. Liz realized that, outside the palace walls, she hadn't seen any members of the B'ril population. It reminded her of an episode of the Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits and sent a chill down her spine.  
  
The inside was more what she had expected, rich colors and a smell like eucalyptus, rich and heady. A small figure, wrapped in folds of a thick robe, greeted them wordlessly, tilting her head towards Tiersa and the guards, and bowing before Liz and Isabel. Her long, thin fingers settled on Alex's shoulder and she led them down a darkened hallway. Just when Liz suspected that they were headed to a dark pit straight out of a bad horror movie, a door swung open to a room filled with lights. The ceiling was painted the same light purple shade of the sky and the walls were painted with strikingly realistic flora and fauna. In front of one of the opaque windows stood a tall woman. Tall in terms of this planet. She couldn't have been more than five feet, five inches, but she towered over everyone but Isabel and Alex. The woman spun around to face them as they came into the room.  
  
"Beautiful morning to you all!" a joyful expression spread over the woman's face. "I am Serena and we have much to do! Liz and Isabel, you may stay but I'm afraid the rest of the party must wait in the hall or the surrounding rooms while I consult with Alex." She shooed them out, along with her assistant, before turning to the remaining three. "Now, we have much to do, many miles and all that."  
  
"It's a shame we didn't have one of these moments in your last lives, to seek truth, the naked truth." Serena sailed around the room, grabbing a book and odds and ends as she went. "And truth here you'll find. I've learned to despise dealing in lies and deceit. Sit."  
  
They found themselves sitting fairly comfortably, cross-legged on the floor, which was carpeted in a thick green shag-like material. They had subconsciously sat in a foursquare, Alex between Liz and Isabel and across from Serena. Serena opened the book in front of her and handed each of them an orb. As she passed one to Liz, she paused and met Liz's flustered gaze. Something passed between the two of them, a feeling of familiarity faintly reminiscent of her connection with Max, of rightness and coming home. All of a sudden, Liz remembered that Serena meant "sweet wind" on B'ril.  
  
"You and I shall have much to discuss in our short time, I believe." Serena released the orb and dimmed the connection. "But we have other concerns at the moment."  
  
"Thank you for helping us. I'm sure you have plenty to do." Isabel spoke up. Her foot began to bounce and she was resisting the urge to look at or speak with Alex. Liz, too, could feel the temptation of spilling out everything again if she so much as looked at him and saw his good-natured smile or even watched him brush his slightly-too-long hair away from his face.  
  
"You are more than welcome. Much of what needs done, I cannot do alone. This is a task I can complete and I embrace it with thanks." Serena settled on a page filled with scrawling handwriting. "You know Tiersa is just paranoid. A fine trait for a doctor, but inconvenient at times. You can speak with him, you know. This has surely made Alex quite uncomfortable."  
  
"Alex," Isabel said his name like a long sigh of relief. They both Isabel drank in the sight of him. He didn't have any outward sign of anything different, maybe just a slightly confused look in his eyes.  
  
"Isabel, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you that-"  
  
"Don't worry about it. I don't think there's an intergalactic etiquette book for this kind of situation." Liz almost began to laugh hysterically at Isabel's quip but bit it back in case the laughter became tears. Isabel placed a friendly hand on Alex's knee and he let it remain, staring at it with intent concentration. "What?"  
  
"Just a.maybe a memory," Alex shook his head. "I thought I had something but it's gone."  
  
"Not for long." Serena looked up and shut the book with a loud snap. The high-speed feel to her demeanor dissipated and her clear gray eyes filled with purpose. "Grasp the orb in your hands and open your minds." Serena sent forth a shock of mental energy forming a connection among them. "Let the memories flow, memory that comes from a place beyond the mind, memory of the blood, of the spirit. That which transcends flesh and becomes part of the essence. It begins with a name, whispered in a child's ear. What is your name?"  
  
"Alex," he had a questioning tone but knew that Serena spoke only to him.  
  
"No." Her voice was firm. "What is your name?"  
  
"Alexander Whitman?"  
  
"No. What is your name?"  
  
"I-" Alex hesitated, looking to Liz or Isabel for help and finding none. "I don't know."  
  
"Good. You do not find your name. It finds you." Serena went silent and the orbs began to glow. Liz felt the memories come from her like a disjointed film: Alex in a Ghostbusters T-shirt on the first day of second grade, his fingers plucking the strings of a bass and his smile at bleeding calluses, the smiling sundae he had made her after Pam Troy tripped her in gym, the night in jail, the camera in Vegas, listening to him play on the balcony on a soft summer night, until there were no more memories. Eventually Liz became aware of the outside world again. Serena and Isabel both opened their eyes with her and a flash of worry came across the mystic's face.  
  
"What's wrong?" Liz tried to keep her voice from sounding hysterical. She could feel that something was not right.  
  
"He has the memories, but I cannot call his essence. Something holds it near, but blocked, out of my reach." Serena closed her eyes again, searching for something. The connection remained and Liz felt the shot of pure terror and helplessness go through Isabel. The girl's thoughts were almost clear. Isabel reached out with her mind to feel Alex and Liz let Isabel's reaction echo through her mind. The different was minute but imperative, like the difference between identical twins, and only after looking long and hard could Isabel notice what Serena had. An emptiness, darkness where there should be light. It was exactly what Isabel had feared, the thing that had nagged at the edge of her consciousness. Alex had come back, but he had come back wrong. 


	12. Part 17

Part 17  
  
In their darkened chamber, the entry code voice-locked, and underneath a light wrap of silken covers, Tess tossed in a fitful sleep. After three days of light napping, waiting for attacks from Natir that never came and trying unsuccessfully to figure out how to kill Khivar, Tess and Kyle had both succumbed to sheer exhaustion. But once Tess had descended into the dream realm, she began to flail against Kyle. Something was emerging from her psyche. Their nascent connection opened and Kyle unknowingly sank into her dream with her.  
  
In the semi-privacy of the parlor, Ava stood near Kathana's throne. Her younger sister, L'arala, was listening to M'lin try some new piece on the qualtar. L'arala had no idea that this time should have been used for courting the less sympathetic planets, like Hanor, and securing the tradesmen. One hour of socializing with a Royal could keep them tightly bound to B'ril and to Ava. For the last two hours, Ava had done no socializing for the pure pleasure of it that L'arala was fortunate to enjoy. As Crown Princess, Ava knew she had a reputation for being selfish. But while her sister got to have friends and freedom, Ava got responsibility and the burden of knowing how far B'ril had to go. The only person Ava ever got to just chat with, no added pressure, was Kale, her personal guard. In the rare free moments she had away from the Great Hall or dining with diplomats, Kale gave her an occasional laugh and, more importantly, the opinion and ear of one who wanted nothing and could offer B'ril little. Her planet needed much. B'ril was still technologically behind Antar and they needed to secure better economic ties with all the planets in the system. Ava knew that she was the one who understood these challenges and she was the one to meet them.  
  
Tonight, she had divided her time between the annoying representative from the United Federation of Pilots who spit when he spoke and the Senator from Antar, who'd been presumptuously pushing for a private audience. Ava was tempted to mindwarp him into thinking they'd had it already, but this Khivar was the newest Senate Speaker on Antar, though his family had never produced anything other than mediocre generals and the occasional Senator, as far as Ava could recall. But B'ril had no solid connections to the planet, no blood ties and the trade disagreements were getting more and more heated lately, so it was in the best interest of the planet to keep their representatives as happy as possible. Their relations had become precarious enough that L'arala and M'lin were scheduled to make an extended diplomatic trip for the next quarter.  
  
"Lady Ava, I must please beg your indulgence," Khivar was again leading her toward the private chambers down the hall. Ava sighed and gave in. She gestured to Kale, who gave her a sympathetic smile and move back a few yards.  
  
"I suppose I can grant you a few minutes," Ava steered them to a small alcove that afforded a measure of privacy but was none too far from the parlor. Kale positioned himself within range if she called for help, mentally or physically. "What can I do for you, Khivar?"  
  
"Milady, I'm afraid that I have some unfortunate information for you." Khivar's mask of obeisance disappeared into a slightly condescending tone.  
  
"Pardon?" Ava was shocked at the sudden about face. She felt Kale edge closer.  
  
"I'm sure you are aware of the rumblings that come from the mystics."  
  
"Of course," her gaze swept the hall, "the mystics have not confirmed my reign and there are any number of rumors that fly through the court. It has been so since my father died and it is nothing new."  
  
"Pity that our planets, on the verge of a new age, are held hostage to such an archaic system, a group whose whims put the very safety and security of a planet at risk." Khivar placed a hand on Ava's shoulder and she quickly shrugged it off.  
  
"The mystics may be old-fashioned but they will do what is best for B'ril and I am that, Khivar. Of this, I and my followers have no doubt." Ava moved to leave their little tryst.  
  
"Nor do I. However, regretfully, the mystics do not concur, milady," Khivar kept his overly sweet smile plastered on his face. It began to resemble more and more a bearing of fangs. "I have any number of.associates who are members of the order and the reason you have not been confirmed is because you will not be."  
  
"Liar!" Ava hissed and her small hand flew at Khivar's face, but he caught her wrist and did not let go. Kale sprang forward. However, Ava stopped him just in time. She had almost attacked Khivar, in a moment of childish outrage at his pronouncement, but if her personal guard had completed the fairly violent act he had planned, then she certainly would lose the throne.  
  
"Milady," malice cut through Khivar's demeanor, "now is not the time to make enemies. And I am not one with whom you would wish to be at odds. I offer you and B'ril a solution."  
  
"What?"  
  
"A blood tie. A promise ceremony with Antar," Ava let a laugh slip out.  
  
"You think a marriage to you would save my planet? I somehow doubt that a small senator from an unknown family will be my savior."  
  
"This small senator," Khivar's grip on her wrist tightened to the point of pain and it took almost all of Ava's mental faculties to stop Kale from killing him outright, "is now the Speaker of the Senate of Antar. I count more than 100 centurons of troops loyal to me and, unlike your highness, I will not be defeated by the word of a cult of mystics without an understanding of how one ought to run a world. I offer you an alliance and you would be wise to accept before you are crawling before L'arala for a place a Court and watching all that you have built and would build crumble like dust in the wind."  
  
Ava stared at the hand on her wrist. In her entire life, no one had ever laid an unwelcome hand on her. It was a singularly unpleasant experience she never wished to repeat. When Khivar saw the wrath build in her eyes, he let go. Ava drew on the little power she had to read others and with little effort saw that Khivar was telling the truth. His hatred for the system roiled through him, but Ava could tell that this was no easy deception and she was only a little surprised. There was no love lost between herself and the mystics. However, with her mother's adamant support, and L'arala as the only other evident choice for the throne and so wholly inappropriate, Ava had assumed the mystics would confirm her in the best interest of B'ril. But they apparently were swayed by L'arala's mindless devotion and naiveté. And Ava knew that Khivar was now her only hope.  
  
"What must I do?"  
  
Kyle and Tess's eyes popped open at the same moment, as Ava's acquiescence signaled the beginning of the end for her and the world she had wanted to save. Tess disentangled herself from Kyle's embrace. Feeling the tension, their son began to move within her womb. He seemed the only one willing to recognize it as Tess, without looking Kyle in the eye, moved to the navigation console.  
  
"We're less than a solar day from Antar." Tess spun to the food prep unit and Kyle nodded, straightening the bed linens. The unit that was supposed to produce her daily nutritional supplements made a faint grinding noise, but nothing else. Tess gave it a classic Earth smack against the chrome. Then another, harder than it warranted. A surge of energy came with the next thwack and, along with her frustration at the temperamental technology, bits of fear and anger at Ava slipped into her consciousness. Before she even realized it, tears were streaming down her face. A hiccupping sob erupted, her knees giving out, and Kyle rushed over. He silently wrapped his arms around her at the waist, his fingers resting lightly against each other.  
  
"Shh," Kyle let her sobs fade back to tears in just a few seconds. "It's alright."  
  
"Kyle, it's not alright until I fix this and give Max and Liz what they should have had in the last lifetime. What the hell was I trying to save B'ril from? What was so important about my leadership that I had to betray my sister, hurt an innocent man, and sell my soul to a vicious madman? I can't believe there's any hope or redemption even if we manage to kill Khivar."  
  
"Tess, you know, some people only have to deal with one lifetime of mistakes." Kyle sighed. "Ava made some stupid decisions, but at least we know she wasn't like Khivar. She didn't just want power- she wanted to make B'ril a better world."  
  
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Kyle, and Ava took the scenic route."  
  
"I wish I could tell you that it didn't happen. I wish I could make it all go away. But I can't and we only get to live this life in this moment. I don't think Buddha wrote anything particularly prophetic for a reborn alien princess with karmic baggage and her completely head over heels boyfriend. And it's definitely not in Buddhism for Dummies." A laugh came from Tess and she wiped away the last of the tears. "Besides, didn't you say that Ava ended up throwing herself on the sword for her world last life? Maybe she realized the mistake she was making."  
  
"I don't know now," Tess closed her eyes and let the memory float toward her. "I was so sure that I was the ultimate martyr in that life. I know that I died at Khivar's hand, we were fighting because I had just." Tess trailed off, shuddering.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I saw someone die. I can't remember who. Never in my entire life had I ever been near someone who had died anything but a natural death. I don't even think there had been a murder like that in years. This was a violent, cold-blooded murder. It hurt worse than anything I had ever experienced in my entire life and I think that I couldn't do anything but turn on Khivar. I tried to mindwarp him while I pulled a blade. But the warp didn't work on him and the next thing I knew, his hands were around my throat," her voice retreated to a scratchy whisper. "Tighter and tighter, until there was nothing. And my last thought was that at least I had died well, but it was too late."  
  
"Where was Kale? He should have been there!" Kyle had identified with the personal guard in the memory, particularly the fierce urge to protect Ava.  
  
"I, I don't know," Tess sniffed and prepared to haul herself to her feet. "But he never would have left that room without Ava and no one but Khivar left that room alive."  
  
Kyle helped her get up, if not gracefully, at least quickly. He turned the memory over in his mind and contemplated the information Tess had just revealed. Something about Khivar was different than the other aliens they had run into.  
  
"Tess, I need to ask you a hard question."  
  
"Okay." Tess let him proceed without hesitation, but braced herself.  
  
"Do you remember how Khivar killed the person?"  
  
"No," Tess closed her eyes and a shudder ran through her. Their son kicked to express his displeasure with the memory. "But there was blood, blue blood everywhere. I was covered in it.  
  
"So whatever it was, it wasn't a psychic thing? A mindrape? Or telekinesis? Something like that?"  
  
"No. Khivar had a tactile obsession. There were almost no other documented cases on B'ril and I had never met anyone who touched as much as Khivar. He always used Nicholas to do mindrapes if he wanted information or to punish someone, but did physical torture himself."  
  
"Do you remember anything about Khivar ever using his own mental powers? Ever?" Kyle was beginning to get excited. Tess sat where she was, running through every memory she had and those that had surfaced since Alex had summoned the crystal clear one. Nowhere had Khivar ever read thoughts or moved anything with his mind. Whereas most Antarians would have been more prone to use a fast tweak to an artery or mindwarp someone into doing the dirty work themselves, Khivar used physical violence. He had never contacted her mentally and, as far as Tess remembered, had never been a reputed power of any kind.  
  
"No, Khivar liked to get his hands dirty."  
  
"I can't believe no one ever realized this!"  
  
"Kyle, what are you saying?" Tess was fairly certain that she knew Kyle's conclusion and he was barely holding back his excitement.  
  
"There's no great and powerful Oz- just a sociopath behind the curtain." Kyle grinned. "I don't think Khivar has any powers and I think he's got an immunity to them, too. A Four Square isn't gonna do crap. We can kill Khivar- we just need to do it the old-fashioned way." 


	13. Part 18

Part 18  
  
The connection among them snapped shut almost violently as Isabel slammed hers down and Serena's shock shattered the remaining bonds.  
  
Liz wasn't able to judge ages of B'ril people well, but Serena suddenly seemed much younger. The mystic kept flipping the pages of her books, reading the script but finding nothing. Isabel sat next to Alex, a good couple of feet from him. She had a smile plastered on her face, but Liz could tell she was faking. Isabel's tells ran rampant: her hands tightly clasped in her lap, a furrow of the brow. Liz moved in and faced Serena.  
  
"What can we do?"  
  
"I don't know," Serena slammed the book shut. She closed her eyes for a long second, then met Liz's probing gaze. "And I should. I wasn't fully trained when Khivar killed my teacher. I spent two cycles in hiding until Queen Kathana found me. I've read as much as I can in the royal library, but I don't know how to do this. I can feel his essence. It's just slipping away when I try to get a hold of it."  
  
"What happens without it?" Liz could already see Alex talking to Isabel excitedly. The memories they had shared were definitely in place.  
  
"Memories are only the building blocks." Serena kept her voice in a whisper. "We use either people or meaningful objects to start the process, but the essence connects these things. You think of your favorite dress, which reminds you of the last person you wore it with, which reminds you of the place you first met him, and that reminds you of the smell, the feel, and a thousand other memories, all interconnected. With relatively few triggers, the essence can rebuild an entire life. But without it."  
  
"It's just not the same person."  
  
"Exactly. And I don't know why I cannot find his."  
  
"Have you ever used an essence to pull memories before?" Liz was growing less and less sure of the infamous Serena. Of all the theories she had had about who the mysterious friend from the future would be, this scenario wasn't far off. After Future Max's horrific pronouncement, Liz had known that whoever Serena was, her intentions were better than her abilities.  
  
"Well, no. But I don't see why I couldn't. I know how." The self-assured mask barely hid a frightened young woman. Serena started flipping through the book again, eyes downcast, absently staring at the pages.  
  
"Try," Liz put her hand on Serena's and stayed the nervous movement. "Try on me. I've got my essence right here and I'm willing to be a guinea pig."  
  
Serena shook her hair. "I can't. You've not been cloned and your essence moved onto a new life. It's not the same ritual." "So there's no way to retrieve those memories?" she let the disappointment creep across her face.  
  
"We can do some past life regressions. Those are easy." Serena perked up a little. "But I'm fairly sure that no matter what DNA changes have been made, you'll never really be L'arala. Like who you are today is related to who you were five years ago, but that person isn't and never will be you again. Parts of L'arala's memories, her personality can be reached, but you've lived a whole new life and that will be dominant. There are some rules that the universe won't let us bend."  
  
"What about the others, Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess?"  
  
"They were supposed to have their memories returned immediately." Serena blushed. "I don't know. I suppose they should still be able to use the same ritual I'm trying for Alex. But they've lived a life on Earth, too."  
  
"I want you to try it out on me," Isabel spoke up. Liz and Serena looked over, surprised. Liz hadn't even realized that they had gotten loud enough for Isabel and Alex to hear.  
  
"Are, are you sure?" the mystic flipped to the appropriate page, glancing over it again.  
  
"Yes. We need to figure out how to-" Isabel darted a look toward Alex. The little girl in her wanted to say fix him, but the wrongness she had sensed stopped her. Something told her not to tell him she knew something was not right. "To do the ritual."  
  
"But it could change you. Vilandra might become the dominant personality."  
  
"I'm willing to take the risk. We need Alex at his fullest."  
  
"Fine, I need to get Vilandra's artifacts." Serena went over to an intricately carved cerulean chest half-hidden under a pile of  
  
"Let us start again," Serena took several deep breaths, running her hands from her head to her knees, as though pushing something down from her body. Then she picked up her orb. "Take your orbs in your hands and open your minds." Serena sent another shock of mental energy and formed a connection among them. "Let the memories flow, memory that comes from a place beyond the mind, memory of the blood, of the spirit."  
  
The sound of Serena's voice slipped away. Isabel could sense herself answering the questions and feel the connections open, the place where Alex was supposed to be filled, but with not quite him. Isabel was already somewhere else in her psyche. This place was dark and confusing, faint shapes clouded in mist. Isabel looked down and saw something that looked like a pulsing soap bubble. With wonder, she put her hand on it. Though not solid, Isabel felt resistance. Just as she moved to press harder, Isabel suddenly sensed that she wasn't alone. She swept the area, seeing nothing. Out of the ether, the mist parting to let him through, Isabel saw Alex. The grinning, familiar Alex and she knew that this one wasn't wrong.  
  
"Alex?"  
  
"Sort of. I'm just a message from the real Alex." He moved to the opposite side of the bubble. "Two things really. This thing here?"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It's Vilandra." Alex's messenger smiled and dragged a finger across the surface, leaving a ripple of purple tint behind. "It's where those flashes of the past came from and in a few minutes it will get bigger. It's gonna pop and you'll have Vilandra memories all over the place. They're just about impossible to get out of the rug. So, for better or worse, you'll know what happened last time around."  
  
"That's a good thing, right?" Isabel tensed because this Alex didn't sound particularly thrilled.  
  
"I'd rather you didn't see it all. You know that in all Shakespearean tragedies everyone dies at the end? Usually pretty bloody?" Isabel nodded to his question. "It's far less entertaining when done in reality and total Technicolor. But what's done is done and I have another, more important message for you."  
  
"Is it about the. other Alex?" Isabel already had difficulty keeping all the Alexes straight.  
  
"Yes, don't-"  
  
"Trust him. I know. Something's wrong with him."  
  
""You always were smarter than you let on," Alex smiled and took a step back from the bubble as it pushed outward. Isabel found herself doing the same. "At some point he's going to trip up, but he's got a lot of ammunition and memories to hold you off. Whatever you do, you need to do soon. My essence can only stick around so long without some connection to this plane."  
  
"What are we supposed to do?" Isabel's voice sounded somehow younger and very small. The possibility of losing Alex forever scared her to her bones.  
  
"First, don't panic." As the bubble grew, this Alex kept moving further and further away, increasing the distance between them. "Then, wait for the right time and then do an old-fashioned exorcism type thing. Minus the spewing and head rotation. And make sure you do it before you get too near Khivar!"  
  
With that, Alex retreated into the furthest reaches of Isabel's consciousness and then disappeared. The bubble began to tremble and then it popped. Isabel's eyes flew open and she released a primal scream.  
  
"Alior! No!"  
  
Part 18b  
  
The waiting was the worst. Miles away from Liz, Alex, and Isabel, the remainder of their group sat in a strategy session with Kathana, Noril, and what appeared to be the best and brightest of the B'ril military; however, it was not a military in the Earth sense of the world. Organized in Four Squares were empaths, mindwarpers, warriors, and healers, they were formidable psychic opponents. But they had been thrust into a war completely unprepared for violence and hand-to-hand combat that Khivar favored. Over time, they had scraped by and tried to fight this guerilla war, like America realizing too late that the Vietnamese weren't going to meet troops on nice open battlefields and use only U.N.-sanctioned weapons. Eventually, after the fall of the first two planets, the opposition had understood they had to change tactics and here they sat, under the tutelage of Max and Michael.  
  
Tutelage that was a shaky combination of Earth history and dozens of war movies. In this situation, Michael's compulsive watching of Braveheart actually became an asset. Even Maria had been able to contribute the idea for the distraction. They had at least come up with a plan to get Tess back. An exchange, the granolith for Ava and her guard. And, just as Khivar would expect, they'd as Michael put it, start blowing all their crap up. While they were distracted, they'd send a smaller, more inconspicuous force behind enemy lines to retrieve Tess and Kyle. When that happened, Michael had every intention of wringing her traitorous blond neck, but at least they'd have her, Kyle, and the baby back. Which, as every person at that table, particularly Kathana and Noril, had made abundantly clear, was the sole reason for this entire mission.  
  
Somehow, over time, all of Ava's evils had faded away and her legacy was nothing but the bright and shining one that her mother had built. Though Kathana obviously loved both her daughters, L'arala's memory had become a bit tarnished in the uncertain manner of her disappearance from court. Apparently, for years, Kathana hadn't even known that both her daughters were dead. Ava had been assassinated with Khivar but L'arala had left with him and just disappeared. No body, no communication from that moment on. And so many had assumed she'd decided to rule with Khivar. M'lin had denied it vehemently until her death. The gentle musician had died long before her time trying to gain intelligence against Khivar and prove that her almost sister had never betrayed her people.  
  
While Michael banged out the final details, something he was actually very good at, Max felt for Liz. She was still blocking him. Earlier, he'd felt a brief flare from her, but it vanished as quickly as it came. He'd made a decision, one that he had no intention of rescinding, but he wanted to at least tell her about before he acted on it. He was not letting her go. Nothing she or Kathana or Tess or anyone did could make him give her up. A bastardized quote came to mind "The art of love is largely the art of persistence." And he would be persistent, being king of a world had to result in getting the only person he had ever wanted to share his life with. Come hell or high water, he would force B'ril and Antar to accept that Zan and L'arala, Max and Liz would be together in this lifetime.  
  
"Max?" Maria put a hand on Max's shoulder. "We're done here."  
  
Max looked around and everyone was indeed waiting for Max to follow Kathana out of the room. With a blush that went from the tips of his ears, Max hurriedly rose and exited with Michael and Maria. He caught up to Kathana and Noril.  
  
"We're leaving soon, right?" Max asked without preamble.  
  
"That is correct. As soon as L'arala and the others return, we shall power up the granolith and rescue Ava before Khivar can even conceive of harming her."  
  
"We're actually bringing the granolith to this thing? We can't give Khivar the opportunity to take it," Max couldn't believe they really intended to take it.  
  
"We have to," The reticent Noril spoke for Kathana. "If it not there, he will know immediately. We can.sense it."  
  
"What exactly is the granolith?" this thing that everyone seemed to want was something of a mystery to Max still. A time machine, an engine, a computer bank. Noril cocked his head to the side and there was a long pause before he spoke.  
  
"It is the energy of our worlds. It is that which gives breath, which gives power. It is our past, our present, our future. If the petitioner seeks with sincerity, the granolith will provide a path. The power of the granolith is what let us bring back the Royal Four. It is the power within it that Khivar hunts. It permeates every moment of existence. When it is not there, you just know."  
  
"No." Max concentrated. "Maybe. What exactly does it feel like?"  
  
"That is like try to describe how you know that your heart is beating. You have never been without the granolith, have you?" "I guess not."  
  
"Trust me when I say that Khivar and anyone with even a measure of power will know if it is not there."  
  
"Then I suppose we'll have to risk it." Max still felt hesitant. Something told him not to bring the granolith to this meeting, but Noril seemed so sure not doing so would give them away. They had reached Kathana's private chambers.  
  
"Please excuse me, my queen, I have much to prepare for the assault." Noril bowed his head. Kathana nodded and Noril quickly trotted down the hall.  
  
"I'm gonna get our stuff together," Michael said. He gave Maria a meaningful look. She had an eye on Max, who didn't look about to move. "Maria?"  
  
"What, Michael?" Maria finally looked at him.  
  
"Why don't you help me out?"  
  
"I think Max needs some company." She didn't budge. Kathana began to smile and, if Max wasn't wrong, a laugh played across her lips.  
  
"Max, do you want company?" Michael asked.  
  
"I'll be fine." Max had some things he needed to discuss with Kathana that he definitely didn't need an audience for. Maria sighed audibly and took a step back.  
  
"I guess I'll go baby-sit Space boy. Don't do anything stupid, Max." Maria admonished as Michael took her arm.  
  
"Me? Do something stupid?" a look of mock innocence appeared.  
  
"Yes, you. You of altered timelines and drunken vows of love and ill- directed spaceships. Try not to do anything stupid!" Maria yelled the last half as Michael physically pulled her down the hall. Except for the guards posted at either end of the hall, it left Max and Kathana alone for the first time.  
  
"Zan, please come in," Kathana's hand swept over the panel and they entered her personal chamber. The room was similar to something Max might have seen in his own mother's house. Max was surprised that this room didn't feature the blue and silver motif of the rest of the palace. Rich greens and crèmes dominated the space. The dressing table had a tall silver mirror, with slips of paper in someone's spidery scrawl running across it. On the shelf there were a number of objects that reminded Max of home: Native American pottery, a rocking chair with a brilliant blue woven shawl draped over it, bottles of perfume with atomizers on them, and even Earth books, bound and not like the scrolls or the handheld devices Max had seen.  
  
"Call me Max," He was firm, though temporarily distracted by the contents of the room.  
  
"Certainly," Kathana faltered just a bit. She sat on the bed. Max moved to the shelf, looking more closely and seeing more Earth artifacts.  
  
"Are these from Earth?"  
  
"Yes," a faint blush of blue crawled over Kathana's cheeks. "Noril retrieved them for me. I, I wanted to see something of what the world that my child would be reborn on. Now I suppose both of my daughters. Perhaps sometime you or one of my daughters could tell me more about Earth, but I believe you have something to discuss with me. L'arala was always the strongest empath, but even without gifts, you seem troubled."  
  
"Queen Kathana," Max started. He raised his head to look her in the eye. "I want to be honest with you. I'm not Zan."  
  
'You are Zan in the ways which are important."  
  
"That's not the point," he took a deep breath. "Promises may have been made in the last lifetime. But this is a different time, I'm a different man. And I love Liz. Tess will always be important to my life, but I have no intention of marrying her."  
  
"You have changed far less than you think." Kathana stood up swiftly. She seemed angry. "Max, you do not have the right to her. However arrived a this point, you are here." Max tried to speak. "Do not interrupt me. If you will not respect me as the sovereign of this world, know that I am your elder and wiser in the ways of this world than you."  
  
Max plopped onto the bed where Kathana had been sitting. He kept his mouth shut and nodded for her to continue.  
  
"L'arala always understood the sacrifice of leading this world. We are simply held to a higher standard. It is not negotiable. Even if you could step down from the throne, there is no one to take your place. Zan had an almost mystical following. The people of Antar will always consider you their king in their hearts. And slighting Ava will do only two things. It will turn your people against Ava and her child and it will create a rift between our worlds. Yes, I am aware that she carries a child and I know that it is not yours. Your people will call her a whore and betrayer. She would be lucky to avoid assassinate by the royalist group. For better or worse, Ava represents B'ril and I will have to sever all connection with Antar if I would prevent all out war in light of such sentiment. And it will likely turn B'ril against L'arala. She was the favored child in her life, but those lifted high have far to fall. And fall she did. Until you returned, I could never be completely certain that L'arala had come to hate me so much for my part in her unhappiness that she would rather fight against me. I hoped not, I prayed not. I reached for her. But there was such division and she did leave willingly with Khivar. The people do not have a mother's love for L'arala. If you should abandon Ava, the memories of her departure will return and she will certainly be in danger."  
  
"What's the point of being king if I can't have what I want?" Max tried to stave off the whining tone creeping into his voice. "I just want to be with the one I love."  
  
"If I could find a way to give both my children happiness I would," Kathana sat on the bed next to Max, her frail frame barely causing an indentation. "Do you think it pleases me to deny them? To be the one who bears such ill tidings?"  
  
Max digested what Kathana had said, the division, the danger that he would once again put Liz in. A wave of despair crashed over him again. He wouldn't, he just wouldn't do it. But he couldn't live without Liz. It wasn't even a possibility.  
  
"Queen Kathana, I understand what you're saying, but if I have to talk to every citizen of both our worlds individually, I will find a way to be with Liz." Max felt her tense. "But until we figure out that way, we'll be careful. We'll try not to-"  
  
Max gasped. Something was wrong with Isabel. 


	14. Part 19a and 19b

A/N: Mariah gets, ahem. suggestive. I'd say borderline R rating (there's probably an independent NC-17 scene I'll produce at a later date- totally unrelated to plot so those not interested can skip it ;)  
  
Part 19a  
  
"Throat," from behind, Kyle's hand wrapped around Tess's neck, in more a caress than a threat. After Tess had assured him that Antarians were very similar to humans anatomically, they had commenced lessons. Fate seemed to be pulling them along both more quickly than they wanted. Yet time dragged. The crew gave them a wide berth, with the exception of Natir and increasingly rare visits from the healer, and they spent most of their time in quarters, preparing.  
  
"Heart." This time he hesitated, gliding his hand just an inch above her swell of breast before moving it over her shoulder to just under the shoulder blade. Tess felt a slow tingle as he ran his fingertips along the sweet spot. "It's easier to hit the heart through the muscle than the ribcage. Assuming that Antarian ribs are like human ribs. Strike from beneath, shove up, and twist." Kyle pantomimed the motion with a slightly suggestive movement of his hips.  
  
"Up, shove, and twist, huh?" Tess leaned back against Kyle, the thin cloth of the new pants he had found in one of the drawers not helping matters any.  
  
"Uh-huh." Kyle stretched his arm over her and rested his hands on her stomach. "You know, I never believed that pregnant women were particularly attractive, but you. wow, you are just stunning, delicious, even."  
  
"Enjoy it while you've got the chance." Tess let Kyle's mouth roam along her neck and his hands toy with her pregnant belly. "He's doing much better. And the healer said that B'ril gestation periods are less than human. I have a feeling this little one is going to come sooner than we think. After that, your.appetite will have to wait."  
  
In response to that, and Kyle's meandering hands, their son gave a hellacious kick. "Kid, I love you already, but we're going to have to have a talk about appropriate moments. Sock on the door and all that."  
  
"Kyle!" Tess admonished. "You'll scar him for life! Imagine, like, your dad and Amy DeLuca with a sock on the door."  
  
"There's the mood killer right there," with a last affectionate rub of her stomach, Kyle disentangled himself from Tess and shook his head. "Images of my father getting some and my son listening in."  
  
"Sorry, but we have to finish this lesson before Natir comes back."  
  
"I'll be quick."  
  
"That's what every girl wants to hear," Tess teased and dodged Kyle's playful swat. "Fine, teach away, but I fully expect to earn my grade in a highly disrespectful way later tonight."  
  
"Promises, promises." Kyle began again. They delved into a complicated discussion of defense, offense, and strategy, focusing less on how to kill Khivar and more on how to get off Antar once it had been done. It seemed as though they were sidetracked almost every few minutes by either Kyle's wandering hands or Tess's lips. For reasons beyond their understanding, their need for physical intimacy had exploded. In the last few months they had barely touched, but now they had to restrain themselves from expressing their love where it would be most dangerous. If Natir ever walked in and figured out that the baby was definitely not Max's, Khivar could renege on the deal for Tess's safe passage and kill the baby. Yet they still struggled to stay apart. At last, they found distraction in each other and let the world pass them by.  
  
Hours later, Natir had yet to appear and Tess and Kyle's urges were taking a backseat to growing worry.  
  
"Where the hell is he?" Kyle began to pace. "He always checks in before shift rotation. And where's that damned healer? She hasn't been here in days."  
  
Tess leaned over to check the console. "Shit."  
  
She adjusted her clothing, the blue gown slightly twisted and her hair desperately in need of repair. Kyle followed suit and brought a brush to Tess at the console.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I think we're on Antar. They must be getting ready to see Khivar." Tess called up an external sensor. The vid feed it showed was much different than the world she remembered. Antar had been a highly advanced, metropolitan world; however, Zan had made sure that patches of plants, colorful breaks appeared every few feet along the roads. He and his father had let city planners monitor every expansion of the city, added untold pieces of art to the streets. But all of this was gone. The palace itself had boasted a huge public garden that wound its way to the city streets and a huge hydroponics lab. But from the ship's sensor images, Tess could see none of that. Nothing but a stark metallic landscape, drab and reminiscent of a bad sci-fi movie. Several of the buildings looked scorched and there were only a few people on the streets. The palace towered over it all, additions extending up and out like dark growths on its alabaster surface. It was a violent distortion of what Tess remembered. Even right before Ava had died it was nothing like this.  
  
Kyle moved closer to Tess and took her hand. He could feel the whisper of terror go through her.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Antar," she subconsciously wrapped her hands around her belly, as though to protect their son from what she saw. "It's just been completely." Unable to express the sentiment in words, Tess sent a memory to Kyle of the Antar that had greeted Ava on her first diplomatic mission there. While it wasn't home like B'ril, the capitol city of Antar had been renowned throughout the system. Its beauty was gone. Completely gone. "And there's something wrong."  
  
"What else can be wrong? We're on a strange, desolate planet plotting the assassination of a despot with a shaky way off the planet at best and thanks to a mind warp, our best friends think we've betrayed them, so even if we get to B'ril, they'll probably shoot us on sight. And if your loyal followers out there or on B'ril find out we're shacking up, we'll die a slow, painful death right here. What could have possibly made it worse?" Kyle tried to bite back the sharpness of his words, but they were out of his mouth before he knew it. Tess took a deep shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, I don't know what made me say that."  
  
"Stress," Tess waved it off. "We're both tense."  
  
"No, that's not it." There was something, something tickling the edge of his consciousness. Any intuitive abilities were nominal and new to him, yet Kyle knew with absolute certainty that Tess was right. Something was wrong, the same something that had prompted his hateful discourse. He tried to reach out. Oily, suffocating. something.  
  
"Kyle?" Tess whispered. "You feel it don't you."  
  
"I don't know what I feel. All I know is that, for some reason, I definitely don't want to leave this room. I don't want to step out that door."  
  
"Something awful has happened." They turned to the entrance, waiting for the monster to pop out of the closet, the evil to emerge from the dark, and whatever had happened on the ship to make itself apparent. Tess stood up suddenly. "It's coming."  
  
Kyle shifted his weight, trying to look both ready to fight and completely natural at the same time. He moved to put Tess slightly behind him as they waited. At last, after a long minute, the door slid open and Tess almost fell to the ground. Kyle caught her out of pure instinct because he was almost as bowled over as she was. The dampers of the room were gone and they could feel it now. Most of the crew was dead. With a faint smell of ozone seeping into the room, they knew. A sudden force had come through the ship and the hundreds of people that had staffed the voyage had been slaughtered. And the psychic reverb lingered like an unending echo. Most of them had been afraid, terribly afraid before they died.  
  
And they had died at the hands of their newest visitor: Khivar.  
  
Part 19b  
  
"Isabel," Liz put what was meant to be a calming hand on her shoulder, but Isabel shuddered. She tensed, like a cat ready to spring, but stilled once Liz withdrew her hand. The last time Liz had touched Isabel, when she had emerged from her trance screaming, the still open connection had sent a stream of images, the memories of a nightmare existence. Dark, a tumble down steps onto a warm mass, twisted, the face of the man she knew was Khivar bent down, inches from her face and a shot of terror taking away her breath. The gleam of silver as something, something important ripped through skin, the thin, naked, and pulled-apart feeling that Liz somehow knew was a mind rape, and hundred of individual horrors that wouldn't even be separated into distinct images and memories.  
  
They had spent the last five hours trying to bring Isabel back to them. Except for the faint flashes of lucidity that Liz caught in her eyes, Isabel was unable to emerge from the depths of her memories. Serena had tried everything she knew but Isabel and Vilandra seemed to be warring for dominance. And Vilandra was winning. The terror and rage overwhelmed everything else.  
  
"Queen Kathana has requested that we return to the palace, milady," one of the guards said with a quiet determination. "And she sends word that Zan wants to speak to his sister immediately."  
  
"Oh God, Max," Liz brought her hand to her forehead in a trite gesture of forgetfulness. "He had to have felt what happened and he's probably worried sick. We've got to go now."  
  
"I need to pack a few things," Serena began to busy herself throwing things into a satchel.  
  
"You're coming with us?" Alex piped up for the first time. Other than his shocked reaction at first, he'd been mostly guarded and quiet, a measurable distance from Isabel.  
  
"Yes, I've managed to make a horrid mess of all of this. You, Isabel, and something tells me that I haven't helped Liz and Max much at all," Serena said softly. Liz rubbed Serena's shoulder, feeling empathy for the woman who had only been trying to help. Some of Liz's memories of Future Max had slipped through the connection and Serena must have recognized the mention of her name.  
  
"We'll have time for regrets and recriminations later."  
  
"Quality SAT word, Liz," Alex's joke hung in the air. A shot of familiarity in this absurd world went through her, then she gave a sharp laugh. It threatened to tumble into hysterical giggles, as the juxtaposition of the test she had worried about since she was eight years old and her current worries, which encompassed an entire star system, struck her.  
  
"Let's go," Liz announced as Serena stopped her packing rampage. Isabel allowed the guards to gather her up while Tiersa kept a close eye on her near comatose form. "My SAT scores should be waiting in my parents' mailbox. We have to finish this."  
  
At the palace, Max paced up and down the hall that led to the docking hangar. Queen Kathana had relayed the guards, but Liz had only sent back a quick assurance that no one was hurt before the vid cut off. With that guarantee, Kathana refused to risk any further transmissions and all he could do was wait. And wait. And wait. Michael, in all his ever-patient glory, had dented two walls and received three quality smacks from Maria.  
  
"Max, sit down." The feisty blond admonished from her seat on the floor, in lotus position. Under direct orders, Michael sat beside her, holding her hand. "You're making me nauseous."  
  
"I can't. I have to do something."  
  
"Well, you can't do anything until they come back, so cop a squat, chica," Maria gave the leg of his pants a good yank as he went by. It threw him off balance enough that he sailed into the wall. Max let himself slide down to a sitting position and, for the thousandth time, tried to trace his now- faint connection with Isabel back to her, to see what had happened. But all he saw what white noise. His Isabel was far out of his reach. Liz, on the other hand, was even more anxious than she had been before they left. They were still too far for Max to get more than a faint read from her, but she radiated worry. Going back and forth between checking his own sense of how close Liz was and the navigation readings that Kathana had thoughtfully displayed on the vid screen in the corridor, Max counted the minutes until they docked.  
  
At last, he heard the hum of the shipped and the mechanisms in the docking bay whirring. The waiting three leapt to their feet. Then a long delay, until the doors slid open and Tiersa came first, quickly heading down the hall towards the medical suite. Liz and Alex emerged, flanking a guard who was carefully escorting Isabel stiffly into the palace.  
  
"What happened?" Max rushed over and tried to wrap his arm around her, but Isabel took a step back and let out a deep, feral noise. "What's wrong with her?"  
  
"She's. a little lost," Serena spoke from the back of the crowd.  
  
"What the hell does that mean?" Michael bellowed. Isabel shied away from him as well and would let only the guard help her along as they followed to Tiersa much more slowly. Serena explained the problem with retrieving Alex's essence and Isabel's insistence that they try the ritual with her.  
  
"I think that Vilandra's memories are overwhelming her." Serena concluded. "They were dark, dark days and what the Princess saw in Khivar's deepest chambers had to be horrific. When Isabel awoke from the trance, she was screaming for Alior and then nothing."  
  
"How do we help her out of it?" Max asked in a low tone.  
  
"We don't." Serena let the truth come more bluntly than she had intended. Hackles rose in the group, particularly from those who had already known of the blundering another Serena in another timeline had done. "She just has to come out of it on her own. And she will, in time."  
  
"We don't have time," retorted Max. "And I need Izzy."  
  
"Try to connect with her, Max," Michael suggested with vehemence that Max had absolutely no urge to squelch.  
  
"Don't!" the warning came from a distressed Liz. "You don't want what's in her head in yours. I only got a little flash and-" she shook her head as if to loose the memories from her mind. "Please trust me on this."  
  
"Okay, new plan."  
  
"We still have to finish arranging the rescue mission." Michael brought up. "Figure out how to transport the-"  
  
"And pack, have to pack," Maria interrupted suddenly and loudly. "Isabel would want us to pack."  
  
Everyone stopped and looked at her. Maria flushed red, but said nothing more.  
  
"Yes, Maria, we'll have to pack," Michael answered slowly. He gave her a pointed stare and his girlfriend just shrugged helplessly. "Max and I will take care of details and meet you in the bedrooms as soon as we're done."  
  
"Michael, they can deal with the rest of the plans," Max was ready to stand his ground, totally unwilling to leave his sister again, when sudden acquiescence swept over him. He had the strange sensation of disagreeing with himself, but he couldn't bring himself to protest again. Liz spoke up from behind him.  
  
"No, you two go ahead. We need to make sure that Noril and Kathana know everything and you guys can fill us in." She gave Max a squeeze and let the others off to the bedrooms without another word. Isabel seemed able to walk on her own, though her eyes were focused on something far away. Max watched them walk away and only once they were out of sight and earshot did he snap back to attention.  
  
Down the hall, Liz began speaking before she even realized that she had formed a thought.  
  
"Serena, I think you should take Alex to see Tiersa. I'm sure she'll want to check him out," Liz reached out her hand to Serena, pointing her in the right direction. Surprisingly, Serena didn't protest and wordlessly pulled Alex away.  
  
"We'll meet up with you in the bedchambers, right?" Liz almost broke at the helpless sound in his voice but something stopped her from calling after him.  
  
"Okay," Maria sounded just as torn and uncertain. The remaining three women headed down the twist and turns of the palace with a slightly more rapid pace until they came to the bedroom area. They were there before Liz even noticed. She hadn't even known that she knew the way back from the transport. The door slid open and they entered the hall where the Roswellians had said goodnight little more than a day ago. Liz moved toward their bedroom.  
  
Once inside, the slack expression disappeared from Isabel's face and she drew up to her full height. The confused and desperate look was gone and the white noise that had radiated from her mind faded to a normal shielded mind.  
  
"Isabel?" Maria noticed the change first. She moved in to hug the ice queen.  
  
"I'm so sorry," Isabel paused, then let both Liz and Maria wrap their arms around her. They stepped back and the questions flew.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Are you Isabel or Vilandra?"  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine. I had to get us to a shielded area so that Alex couldn't hear us, physically or mentally." A sad look flickered across her face. "And I'm. I don't know. Mostly Isabel, I think. But I remember everything. Everything." She shuddered. Closed her eyes. "We don't have time for that."  
  
Isabel began with her interaction with the Alex in her subconscious, describing the interaction by rote.  
  
"And the wrongness- it's very wrong. Remember how the leaders of the other planets took human hosts, like Brody?" Maria and Liz nodded. "That's what's happened to Alex. Someone got to his body and blocked his essence from returning to it. We have to kick them out."  
  
"Who is it?" Maria asked. "I'm not totally sure. I was blocking so strongly that I couldn't tell. If it were Khivar, I think I'd know. But it's definitely someone from his camp. And if they're strong enough to take Alex over, then they'll be able to read me. Fast. Who knows what they've found out so far."  
  
"You weren't blocking the whole time," Maria stated quietly. "You made me interrupt Michael."  
  
"And you made Max go with him. You can," Liz whispered, "you can do that?"  
  
"I couldn't before, but I can. feel my powers much more now. Like I took my gloves off. And I needed to speak privately without making the fake Alex suspicious. So, I made the arrangements. Protecting the Granolith, getting Max and Michael into the shielded battle room and us here to talk. It needed to be done." Isabel stopped and seemed struck by what she'd done, taking control of her friends, her brother. She sat with a heavy plop on the bed. "God, no wonder they were all so such I was a heartless bitch."  
  
"It's okay," Liz pushed the strands of hair from Isabel's face, in a sisterly gesture, when a flash burst through her consciousness, sending her stumbling backward with its force.  
  
"I offer no tests, Vilandra," a cool hand on the cheek, brushing the few strands that had escaped her military style braid. Biting back the bile and seeing Nicholas- no Neekol- with that smirk that ruined his handsome face, but not to whom that hand belonged. The hands still smelled of blood, familiar blood. But the person from whom it had spilled was gone and, if she stayed calm, played this to its fullest, she could still save her brother.  
  
The flash cut.  
  
"I'm sorry, I wasn't ready for physical contact," tears threatened Isabel's eyes. "There's so much going on up here," she tapped her head. "I have to secure my mental shields before opening any connections."  
  
"Is that the kind of stuff that's going on up there?" Liz was breathless. She could still smell the awful blood, feel the quakes rush through her in reaction to the touch.  
  
"Mostly," Isabel shrugged it off, willing herself not to think about it for the moment. "But, most importantly, what I do know is how to kick out whoever is squatting in Alex's body and we've got to do it fast. 


	15. Part 20

I just want to thank everyone for the amazing feedback I've been receiving. Sorry that there's been a lag between parts, but my muse and I are not on speaking terms. We're in counseling. We need to stay together for the stories ;)  
  
Part 20  
  
"Isabel, when you first came out of the connection, were you. I mean, did you have everything sorted out?" Liz asked as Isabel removed all potential projectiles from the room. The young woman didn't answer for a long stretch but slowed in her movements.  
  
"No." she kept her answer short and to the point. Maria moved into her line of sight.  
  
"Was it horrible?" she asked in a low tone.  
  
"Do you remember what it was like when Michael killed Pierce? The guilt, the fear. the body?" Liz and Maria nodded slowly. It had taken months for them to function normally. And the feel, the smell, the reality of a dead body and then the memory of it all had stayed with them through the long summer nights. Even Liz, with hundreds of miles from the reminders of what had happened, had had her share in the haunting dreams. "Imagine bodies, screams for mercy from people who thought you were their safe harbor. I had to convince Khivar that I had really turned to his side, so I sat through them, with a smile on my face. When Zan and Alior were brought out. And I had a choice to make that would end with the blood of one of them on my hands. Fortunately I only had to live with that choice for a few hours in my last life. I'll have to live with it a lot longer for this one." Isabel didn't seem inclined to share what her choice had been. " If we can evict whoever's squatting in Alex and then live through the battle with Khivar, that is."  
  
"We won't have long," Maria looked at the door. "I doubt Tiersa will be able to keep Alex for long. Especially since she's not really expecting him."  
  
"Don't worry," Isabel said absently with the echo of a grin. "Tiersa is busy giving a comprehensive physical. Several very, ah, uncomfortable procedures are involved."  
  
Liz and Maria exchanged a look. The offhand way in which Isabel had dismissed exerting mind control over Tiersa worried them. Her powers were far beyond Tess's mind warps.  
  
"What are we supposed to do?" Liz asked. "I mean, when Alex gets here?"  
  
"He'll know that I'm not the same Isabel as I was before the connection and that I've been lying. Hopefully we'll finish things before he figures anything else out." ***************  
  
Noril had been a bit shocked that Max and Michael had returned for more of the planning. However, he gladly launched into a comprehensive summary of the soldiers, the contacts, and the other nitty gritty details of the attack. After fifteen minutes of listening, they both realized that they were sitting in a monotonous meeting for no real reason.  
  
"What the hell are we doing down here?" Michael whispered to Max. Noril was on the profile of the last squadron of soldiers he had handpicked to accompany the group to Antar. Michael, however, had shaken his head free of the strange interest in the intimate details of the rescue plan that had seized him. Max was drumming a fast beat on the table and hadn't paid any attention.  
  
"You're right," Max answered under his breath, then raised his voce to interrupt Noril. "Thank you for the details. I'm afraid we have other preparations to make. Please excuse us."  
  
Noril bobbed his head and closed the vid file.  
  
"As you wish. The Granolith has been prepared for transport and we have sent an emissary to make contact with Khivar's camp. Once that has been done, we shall leave at your earliest convenience."  
  
"Thank you," Max tossed off the pleasantry as they raced down the hallway. Their worry and fear began to resurface, joined by a wave of wariness. Max stopped in mid-stride.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I don't know." Max paused. "When did you have the urge to go see Noril?"  
  
"Right after Liz stopped you from connecting with Iz." Michael clenched and unclenched his fists, digging his rough nails into his skin. "Max, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"  
  
"Unless Serena is more powerful than she seemed, Isabel must have been the one messing with our heads," Max replied. Neither of them moved nor spoke. Serena didn't have the powerful hum that came from Noril and Kathana, just a light buzz of intuition, like what Liz had been gathering. But at least she had some sense of power to her. Isabel's white noise had been unlike anything Max had ever encountered. Whatever had controlled them had been like an iron fist in a velvet glove, strong enough to force them, but gentle enough that they hadn't been hurt or alerted to it. And Serena had just been so open, unguarded. Isabel's complete wall had to have been hiding something.  
  
"I think she also used Maria to stop me from talking about the Granolith. Maria's scattered, but not weird enough to insist on packing in the middle of all this crap. You're right." Michael nodded slowly. "Isabel is the reason we went back to that damn strategy session." "I think she must have mind warped us or tricked us somehow. We didn't need to go see Noril and Tiersa definitely didn't say anything about needing Alex for an exam." Max heaved a huge sigh. He couldn't seem to get angry or move anywhere beyond profoundly sad. This would be just another disappointment, another betrayal in a long, long line.  
  
"I don't think this is really Isabel." Michael pronounced. "Maybe we were wrong maybe Vilandra did end up betraying us in her last life. Maybe Vilandra's calling the shots here."  
  
"I just can't believe my sister, in any incarnation, would do this." Max shook his head. They had reached the door, but neither moved. Max just stared at the door. "I don't know what to think."  
  
"Neither do I, but what I do know is that Maria and Liz are in there with here. And if it's Vilandra, I don't want to take a chance." A glow came over Michael's hand, filling the hall with power. "No matter what, I'm going to make sure that Maria's safe."  
  
Max felt the power rise like static through the hall; Michael was serious and definitely afraid. And Max began to think he was right. The Isabel he knew wouldn't have just controlled them, wouldn't have left them so out of the loop. And if Liz was in danger.  
  
"So you're with me?" Michael looked down at the green charge racing down Max's hands.  
  
"Our Izzy wouldn't have done this." With that, they waved the door open and charged in. Max let loose a charge and it struck a surprised Isabel in the stomach. In the second it took Michael to aim, she had flung up a shield. It was opaque but still visibly stronger than the ones Max usually constructed. He had expected rage and return fire, but Isabel only looked hurt, tears pooling her eyes. In the next few seconds, he realized that Liz and Maria were also behind the shield and they looked more scared of Max and Michael than Isabel. Max hesitated before sending another burst, as did Michael. In the blink of an eye, the shield was down and Max found himself pinned next to Michael against the wall. His hands were firmly directed toward the ground.  
  
"Max! What's wrong with you?" Isabel asked, tears no longer visible, but evident in her voice.  
  
"What's wrong with me! What the hell's wrong with you?" Max retorted, more sharp than he'd intended. "You manipulated us! Messed with our minds and didn't even deign to tell us whether you were okay!"  
  
"I'm fine. I just had things that had to get done and whoever's in Alex wouldn't have believed-"  
  
"Bullshit," Michael met Isabel's gaze. "You knew exactly what you were doing. Like the time you tricked Stacy, that cheerleader chick, into scratching her face all up before the homecoming election. You had control, you had the power, and you did it without remorse.  
  
"Michael, I-"  
  
"He's right, Isabel. I don't know if we can trust you." Max was still held in Isabel's ironclad mental grasp. "Are you even Isabel? Vilandra? Did she betray me in the end? Did you betray me?"  
  
"Max, enough!" Liz stepped forward, breaking Isabel's concentration and her force field. Pushing her hair back from her face, she looked back and forth, from the no longer prone Max and Michael to an uncertain Isabel. "Look, I'll vouch for her. It-" she hesitated, "it feels like Isabel now. And we've got to taken care of whoever's squatting in Alex now. Tiersa can't keep him busy for long."  
  
Isabel sniffed and let go of her hold on Max and Michael completely.  
  
"Iz, I think you know that you crossed a line."  
  
"Try jumped up and down on the line and did a little dance," Michael commented.  
  
"We can't just let that go, but we have other priorities. We need to trust that, for the time being, this is all being done for the good of Alex."  
  
"The ends will damn well justify the means. So, sit down, shut up and listen to Isabel," came directions from Maria. "That means you, Spaceboy."  
  
Max and Michael grudgingly pushed their anger to the side and, now unencumbered, moved closer to Liz and Maria, closing the distance to only a few feet from Isabel. She couldn't seem to wipe the shocked look from her face, but kept her hands at her sides and began to speak.  
  
"You know what Kyle's always saying? That the world is only our perception of it?" at their nods, Isabel continued. "He's more right than he knows. Whoever has hold on Alex's body can stay there only because they are absolutely sure that they can. That he is entitled to it. I can only think of one person who's that arrogant."  
  
"Nicholas," Liz breathed.  
  
"Yes. His real name is Neekol. He's Khivar's second and should have been dead a lifetime ago. He must have been keeping an eye on us and when we recreated Alex's body, he took advantage. He's a. an energy rider is the best way to describe it."  
  
"What's an 'energy rider?'" Liz asked, her nose wrinkled in confusion.  
  
"It's an Antarian who has enough psychic power to exist on anyone's bioenergy. After their natural body dies, they can continue leaping from body to body. If they have enough psychic energy, they can oust the owner of that body and set up shop. And they can stay alive without a body for a while, long enough to find new ones whenever they want. Neekol has been doing this for fifty years or more now. I'm not really sure how old he is. But that makes him very powerful and very practiced at this. So we can't just hit him with raw power. We have to loosen his hold by convincing him that he's already lost, that he's weak and that, above all, we have the upper hand. A little bit of witty banter, a lot of bull. Just follow my lead."  
  
"Then what?"  
  
"Once he doubts his hold, it will automatically loosen. A strong enough person with a good grip can hang from a cliff for a long time, but pull a few fingers and it's not long before he falls. After that, I can pool our power to force him out."  
  
"No. You have plenty of power," Michael shook his head.  
  
"I don't have enough." Isabel didn't meet his eyes, but turned to her brother. "Things aren't okay between us, but I would never hurt any of you! I just. I need Alex. I feel completely off balance without him. Even before I opened my memories of our last life, I say things, I do things without thinking."  
  
"Isabel, I know what crazy in love is," Max answered with a knowing smirk. "You can't just pass off what's happened as missing Alex."  
  
"I don't just miss him, Max! I need him! Without Alior-" Isabel shook her head. "I mean, Alex, I can't. I can't."  
  
The group looked anywhere but at the tall blond princess on the verge of collapse. A shudder went through her and Liz stepped forward, but Isabel put up a hand to stop her. With effort, she took a deep breath.  
  
"Please, just help me. He's probably on his way back with Serena now."  
  
"Max," Liz spoke. "I don't care what issues we have to work out later. We need Alex back and Isabel needs our help to do it. I'm in. Whatever powers I have are yours."  
  
"Me, too," Maria volunteered. "Just tell us what to do."  
  
"Let me in. I'll link with you and draw your energy."  
  
Max said nothing. His faith was still shaky, but Liz trusted. He met her gaze. She seemed so sure. In a matter of second, he found himself nodding.  
  
"I guess if you're all going down, I'm going with you." Michael caved last. "How much longer?"  
  
"Not very."  
  
The group sat in uncomfortable silence for the next few minutes.  
  
"Sooo." Maria moved closer to Spaceboy and linked hands, rising onto her tiptoes to rest her chin on his shoulder. "This is awkward." "Behold Maria, observer of the obvious." Michael received a light swat to the head for his trouble.  
  
"Isabel, got enough time to teach us a couple of Jedi mind tricks? 'Cause the only great ability that I'm getting from M'lin is a neurotic awareness of how off-key the door chimes are."  
  
Isabel cracked a smile. "It's not anything I didn't know before. I just have a lot more power to do it now, a lot more horsepower. And Vilandra's years of practice."  
  
"We could all learn?" Max asked.  
  
"Definitely," Isabel brightened visibly at the proposition. "I can teach you how to do it. You could know everything that Zan knew and more."  
  
"You're going to need it." Alex, no, Neekol, said from the now open doorway, his voice full of almost-believable concern. Serena was nowhere to be seen. "Isabel? You're okay?"  
  
"Neekol, I know you know." Isabel hardened. Every drop of joy, of anticipation, of the Isabel that had returned to them in the few moments of conversation was gone. All of a sudden, it was easy to tell that this was not Alex. Something had moved in his face, in his way of carrying himself. This was Neekol.  
  
"Vilandra, darling, you rear your gorgeous little head again," a sneer completely foreign to Alex's face was directed at Isabel. "You don't look quite so happy to see me."  
  
"Forgive my rudeness," she intoned in a dull, unapologetic voice.  
  
"Your dupe, on the other hand, she reminded me was an amazing little princess you always were. Too bad she's not around to try out this body. Then again, she's probably mighty pissed that you left her on that miserable little rock."  
  
"How will I live with the pain?"  
  
"Ooh, a bit feistier than you were last time we met."  
  
"It seems you're a bit taller."  
  
"Could have done better, I suppose. But dear old brother didn't leave his body for me. And that might have been a bit awkward for you, though." Neekol had been slowly approaching Isabel, who stood her ground. The others were lock several feet away.  
  
"Neekol, I'd suggest you make your next few words count. They'll be your last." Isabel grabbed his hand and gripped it just a bit too tightly.  
  
"Now, now. Wouldn't want to damage the merchandise. 'Specially if you're looking to move your boy toy back into this body any time soon." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "A small improvement on my husk, but a better fit, I think."  
  
"Not for long."  
  
"Hmm. Awful damned confident. I don't plan to talk and I don't plan to leave. My husk is gone, which leaves me with absolutely no other connection. Besides, your Alex is probably long gone. I haven't had to fight his essence since we got back to the palace."  
  
"He's here! I know it!" Isabel almost spit the words onto Neekol, scrambling desperately to hold onto her cool and remember that the alien would be gone in just a few minutes. And in a few hours, Neekol, Khivar, and his whole Antar contingent would be destroyed.  
  
"Poor Lonnie, I've upset you?" Neekol mocked her.  
  
"Neekol, you have one chance to make a bargain. That's more than you ever gave us. Any of us."  
  
"I don't want any of your bargains," without missing a beat, he snidely replied. Isabel opened the ever-present connection to Max and Michael, feeling Liz and Maria through it. She gathered every fantasy of Khivar's violent death, of the destruction of the usurper, and slammed Alex's body into the wall and let a mental punch ricochet through Neekol. A drip of blood came from his nose. He stared at her in complete and utter shock, completely thrown off.  
  
"I'm done playing nice. You are leaving this body; that's nonnegotiable." Isabel sucked in a breath and drew on the strength of the group again. With his control loosened, she could see Neekol's psychic lashes. She plucked one of the ties Neekol had latched onto Alex's brain. His left side went slack. "But how it happens and where you go afterwards is entirely up to you."  
  
A look of fear flashed in Neekol's eyes for the first time. Even with utmost precision, his speech was slightly slurred. "What do you want?"  
  
"What do you have to give?"  
  
"Information."  
  
"What kind?"  
  
"The location of the remaining Skins camps on Earth." The paralysis had diminished a bit and Neekol again spoke clearly. "I want a new body."  
  
"Best we can do is a skin," Isabel waved away such a suggestion and sent another shock through Neekol. "And it'll cost you a lot more than the Earth contingent. We're not interested in slaughtering the people. Just your God- forsaken boss."  
  
"If I betray Khivar, a husk will be worthless."  
  
"But if Khivar is dead, I suspect that just about everything he's promised you will be worthless."  
  
Neekol retreated mentally, his eyes glassy and full of desperation.  
  
"I know where Khivar's stores are, his supply lines, how he's getting the ships into the system around the B'ril patrols." Neekol, for the first time in a long time, completely out of control looked on the verge of panic.  
  
"Close, but you know what else I want." Isabel prompted. One of Vilandra's memories had surfaced, one she wasn't sure of, but one that could change things for Max and Liz, for Kyle and Tess. The reason she had stayed in Khivar's camp for so long, too long.  
  
"It's impossible! He'll know it was me."  
  
"Khivar will be dead in a matter of days. He'll know it was you, but he'll die unable to do anything about it." Isabel squeezed with all she was worth and felt Neekol, popping like filth from a pore. The last of him held a frantic grip on Alex's basic motor functions, while the body itself sank to his knees with Isabel's tall form towering over him. Another long pause.  
  
"Fine. Zan's seal and the original edict for L'arala's hand in marriage. He still has them."  
  
Liz and Max both let out a gasp. Proof that Khivar had plotted against Zan, against Ava and L'arala. With that and the word of Tess, they might be able to convince the people to accept Zan and L'arala, Liz and Max.  
  
"He keeps them with his other. trophies. In the palace courtyard, hidden in plain sight. With the bodies." As Neekol haltingly described how to find the seal in the mess, the walls covered with bodies and body parts, Isabel remembered Khivar's penchant for putting his latest victims on display. The bodies of the Royal Four had had the center stage for months. It had been that very desecration that had allowed the Royalists to steal the bodies to obtain their DNA.  
  
"The husk will be ready by the end of the lunar cycle," Isabel announced once Neekol had fulfilled his part of the bargain. "Now, get the hell out of Alex's body!"  
  
Exerting only a fraction more effort, Isabel pushed Neekol out, grinding out every last connection and toehold that he could have manipulated into a way into Alex's mind. She smoothed the neural pathways that Neekol's presence had corrupted and the body slumped to the floor, unmoving.  
  
"Alex?" Isabel sank to the floor where Alex's body lay in an awkward position. She gathered it in her arms, repeating his name to no avail. "It's not too late, it can't be too late!" She rocked with his body in her arms. "Alex, Alior, please come back to me. I can't do this again. I can't, I can't-"  
  
"Isabel?" his voice sounded faintly sleep-clogged.  
  
"Alex!" Isabel's cried with the desperate relief of a drowning woman. Alex sat up a little of his own volition. He met her gaze with a stare of solid warmth and love.  
  
"I knew you'd be able to do it." With that, Isabel's mouth descended on his. Her lips met his with more force than she'd ever given a kiss before, tongues intertwining as though trying to drink him in. The world around them, even their overjoyed and shell-shocked friends disappeared. They finally came up for breath but Isabel held tightly, half afraid that he would disappear. His arm wrapped around her and her hands in a death grip around his waist, the two rose relatively ungracefully from the floor of the living quarters. "It's him, it's really him." Maria and Liz let loose a tearful cry of job with Isabel's assurance.  
  
"Lizzie, Ria," Alex moved one arm back and pulled the girls, who in turn pulled Max and Michael into a huge group hug. At long last, Alex was back. 


	16. Part 21a

So I could sit here and tell you about my busy life, make excuses for neglecting this story, but all I'd be doing is making excuses. Thanks to the people who sent me emails to knock me over my writer's block. I think I'm back on track with this thing and I hope to have it finished by New Year's (That's the absolute latest because I have another idea for a Farscape/Roswell crossover that's itching to get out and I refuse to let myself write it until I finished this one!) I have actually reworked the end of this story from what I'd originally planned, so if you notice any plot holes, please forgive!  
  
Part 21a  
  
"You know, Ava, you must be better liked in this life than the last. We've already gotten a request to negotiate for your return to B'ril." Khivar spoke now, after several hours of virtually complete silence. An obscene smile pasted on his face, Khivar had noted Tess and Kyle's discomfort and seemed to take pleasure in it. He'd forced them to walk past the not-yet- cold bodies with an almost offhanded "Rid ourselves of any of Larek's spies." Tess, her center of balance already off this late in her pregnancy, had stumbled at that point, the gorge rising in her throat until Kyle had taken the chance of laying a comforting hand on her arm, restoring balance and pushing her through sheer force of will through the ship.  
  
They'd marched through the city, using underground tunnels, lights flickering, feeling more and more as though they were entering the wicked witch's castle. Now, they emerged into the palace and the courtyard. Thanking God they weren't downwind, Tess felt her stomach lurch and their son grow deathly still at the sight alone. Bodies, in various states of rot and in different modes of death, were draped from the once-pristine walls. It was at this point that Khivar had begun his speech.  
  
"I trust your guardian kept you informed of the terms of our agreement?" Khivar moved in and rested his hand at the small of Tess's back. She repressed the urge to shudder as he maneuvered her into a chair at next to him at a long table. Kyle was not offered a chair.  
  
"A union of convenience, to silence any of the remaining-" Tess looked around at the carnage, "critics of your rule."  
  
"I had hoped you would have sentiments similar to those in your last life." Khivar leaned close again, sniffing the curve of her neck. Kyle clenched his fists, but managed to barely keep himself from punching the usurper. "I believe that the arrangement I had with Ava involved a few. fringe benefits."  
  
"Perhaps we can negotiate," Tess managed to purr, calling on the acting talents that had gotten her through the past five months. She blocked her surroundings from her mind and drew on all the strength that Kyle could spare.  
  
"Speaking of, I want our vows complete before we speak to Zan and his ilk about your 'return' to B'ril." A shock of panic raced through Tess and Kyle's eyes widened. Khivar made a motion toward one of the guards. He opened the large set of double doors to the private wing. "And if this little one would make an appearance, I'm sure we could find a place for it in my plans."  
  
"He." Tess corrected, then regretting her slip of knowledge.  
  
"A male heir for the Antar throne. Appropriate." Khivar let his teeth show and sent servants scurrying for food. "After all this time, Zan still manages to have a mythic shadow among the stupider of my subjects and his heir should force the doddering fools to finally surrender. And once he's finally gone from this world, in front of his legions," Khivar spit the word, "of followers, I can negotiate an alliances as the uncontested head of Antar. And turn that mystic-forsaken ball of dirt your protector hid you on into a resource acquisition center." Khivar paused, head cocked and body frozen in position. His lips moved silently and then snapped back to life, muttering under his breath. Tess glanced at Kyle, who shrugged.  
  
"When do you expect them?" Tess asked with as much confidence as she could muster.  
  
"They who, my dear?" Khivar questioned as he slid his knife deftly into the plate of unidentifiable meats that a wraith of a subject had slid before him. Chopping tiny pieces, he forced Tess to give him information he already knew.  
  
"Zan and the contingent from B'ril with the Granolith."  
  
"Ah," Khivar slid a limp and bloody chunk into his mouth. "I expect them within the next solar day, though I'm certain Rath will begin blowing things up a bit before our scheduled rendezvous."  
  
He speared one of the slices and swirled it in the pool of blood, like ketchup. Tess glanced briefly at the food and then away. The faint hunger pangs she had been experiencing vanished. She felt a strange tightness across her stomach and an ache grow in her back. Tess tried to ignore it as best she could but the pain and nausea were wearing away at her façade of calm.  
  
"And who will preside over our ceremony? The mystics must be gone by now and they have to verify our vows if we're following the people's traditions." Tess wracked her memories and that seemed essential. Without a mystic, there was no way that Khivar could force a successful binding and promise ceremony.  
  
"My dear, I have planned for every eventuality." Khivar deviously proffered the current chunk of flesh he'd impaled on his fork to Tess. When a green tinge came over her and she shook her head quickly, he smiled and looked toward the servant. "I think that you've absorbed enough of those mystical energies to pass, don't you Neekol?"  
  
The formally hunched and withered man who'd served the meal now stood upright with an air of contempt about him. A wave of the hand cleaned dried blood and unwrinkled the tunic he wore.  
  
"I believe I can do a sufficient job of it." Neekol stepped forward.  
  
"Good. Neekol always seems to be hiding around here somewhere. How are our dear friends on B'ril? Scheming a grand exit for the lovely Ava?"  
  
"They have been wary of the new Alex and limited my access to their discussions. I'll learn more soon, but they'll probably have something predictable cooked up to release the princess from our evil clutches."  
  
Khivar slowly put down the knife, laying it across the plate. "You mean you haven't found out what exactly they have in store?"  
  
"No, they have-" before Neekol could finish, Khivar fingered a button on the collar at his neck and the body froze.  
  
"I don't deal in excuses, Neekol. You will report back to me before the end of the solar day with their exact plans." Khivar turned to Tess, taking on an explanatory tone. "You may not recall from your last incarnation, but Neekol is an energy rider. He has been both a blessing and a plague to my family for ages. Cultivating our powers, talents for his own benefit, his consumption. It was through his machinations that I rose to the Speaker of the Senate. What Neekol failed to realize is that we can manipulate energy and since Neekol hasn't had a corporeal form for many years now, he is particularly manipulable. After a few decades of captivity here and just enough pain while on Earth, I've found Neekol to be quite trustworthy. He always completes his missions." Khivar tapped a different button and the body released. Neekol's body came back to life.  
  
Tess saw something flicker across Neekol's borrowed face. It was almost too quick to tell, but he looked tired. The flunky did not look happy to still be before the tyrant. He kept his mouth shut tightly and hands firmly clasped behind his back, awaiting orders.  
  
"Go now. Return by first light for the ceremony." Khivar waved a hand of dismissal and the servant's body crumpled back to the floor. He gathered himself up, moving to his place along the wall without a word.  
  
"Only a few hours, my bride." Khivar pointed toward one of the sets of double doors just down the hall. "We are actually in your wing of the palace. Your rooms have been prepared and your guard may sleep." an eyebrow raised, "at the door?"  
  
"Kyle will be at the ready. If you'll excuse us, we'll retire." Tess stood from the table entirely too quickly and her precarious balance was lost. Kyle swiftly caught her before she tumbled, giving her a chance to find her center of balance.  
  
"Indeed, my dear," Khivar rose. Tess and Kyle exited the room as another servant appeared seemingly from nowhere. When she opened the doors to the room, they swept in and shut the door, locking them again any easy entry with a wave of Tess's hand.  
  
Kyle took a breath to speak, but Tess stopped him, waving a hand and mouthing, "bugged."  
  
If he's as paranoid as he was last time, Khivar has the whole place bugged. Maybe even cameras somewhere.  
  
This room.. Kyle spun around to look at it. In the stark lighting that reminded him of a doctor's office, he could see that it appeared fairly lavish, done with in deep blue colors along side bright swatches of red. The bed, the floor patterns, the desk, everything was inscribed with the whirlwind insignia, but with great spiraling slashes of red through it, making it look more like a violent, bloody eye.  
  
He's tried to merge his family's symbol with the Royal seal. Tess fingered the satiny sheets that covered the bed. She took great pains to seem as though she was nonchalantly inspecting the room. I'll never be able to sleep in this bed, I'll fall right out.  
  
The bed's about a foot too short for even a little thing like you to fit on. Kyle moved to the closed window and tugged at it. Windows are just for show, I guess. Khivar took the time to get this room for us.  
  
And now we need to get ready for him, Kyle. Tess pulled the pillows from the bed as she spread them out on the floor. She sank onto them, supporting her back against the bed while Kyle spotted and hauled a thick, decorative- looking spread down from its hooks on the wall. After a few fluffs, he joined her and wrapped them both in it. Kyle reached over and began to massage her back. Kyle, we need a plan to kill Khivar.  
  
We don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow. This is going to be harder than I thought. Max is willing to negotiate for us. Or at least attack to get us out and do it fast.  
  
Kyle, you and I both know that Max is a 'no man left behind' kind of guy.' But he's going to be none too happy unless we can prove ourselves to him. So we've got to take our Khivar before he kills any of our friends.  
  
Kyle took a breath, looking around the room for anything that could be used as a weapon, while Tess tried to remember if any of the servants carried knives or anything they could co-opt. All of a sudden, their heads were filled with another voice.  
  
You two are lucky I have a better offer than what Khivar is dealing me. You didn't think that a world with virtually all its population telepathic would monitor psychic energies? Neekol's voice rang clear in their heads. How you people ever managed to get the upper hand here.  
  
"Nicholas!" Tess burst out.  
  
Now, now! Don't want Khivar to know about our little rendezvous.  
  
"I don't think that Khivar will let his second wait on us, Ava," Kyle rose a bit stiffly and brought her a random article from the dresser. He handed it to Tess.  
  
You'd think you would have the undercover thing down by now. Neekol managed to let a hint of frustration slip into his mental voice. Tess began to apply the liquids, makeup.  
  
What are you doing? Tess's hand jerked before Neekol regained control.  
  
Don't you think it looks a little weird to just be sitting in silence with pointed looks on your faces? Pretend to be doing something or let me do it.  
  
Tess gave Neekol just enough control to guide her hand since she had no clue what she even held. It seemed like an all-purpose sparkly dark gray but went near her eyes as well as her cheeks.  
  
Part of the bargain is that I tell you two to hang on and be prepared to run for the border when they come. Khivar will have the promise ceremony in the courtyard. You need to get the away from him and to the place where the bodies were.  
  
Which bodies? How will we know where it is? Kyle was skeptical. They had no reason to trust Nicholas and many reasons to believe the little man would betray them.  
  
Psychic reverb. It's a complete hot spot. The palace is filled with them. I'd be careful of this room as a matter of fact. I believe L'arala occupied it last. Neekol sounded more than a little amused. Then he mentally sighed. I've been on the wrong end of Khivar's leash for too long now, but there was a day that I watched all of this as an equal, even a master. Your sister and her idiot friends wouldn't give me any more information about their plans. Probably afraid I'd sell them out for my freedom from Khivar. Enjoy the little prank we're currently pulling on Khivar.  
  
Tess felt a push toward the mirror and she hauled herself up with Kyle's help. Neekol had paint her face with the shimmery liquid, making her eyelids dark and sending curved wing-like patterns the swept out from her eyes and down to her cheeks.  
  
This is a traditional B'ril ceremonial marking. It doesn't come off easily and Khivar won't be able to change it before the ceremony. A true laugh rang out in Neekol's voice. The shro'chi around your eyes for the excited bride. I added dark eyes and dripping tears, death symbols.  
  
A memory floated to the surface of Tess's mind as she watched herself, looking mysterious and solemn in the mirror, Kyle still rubbing at the unending back pain.  
  
The mark of a widow. Tess announced as Kyle burst out laughing. 


	17. Part 21b

Part 21b  
  
By the time everyone had wiped the tears from their eyes and finished their reunion, the night had stolen over them and they found themselves curled in a pile of bodies on the floor. Liz's dreams flickered in and out of L'arala's memories of sleeping like this with a young Ava and her own of second grade sleepovers with Alex and Maria.  
  
"The bogeyman. He'll get in if you don't shut these windows, Liz." Alex's echoey voice came to her while he was busy mouthing something to Maria, who laughed hysterically. Liz moved to shut and lock the window just a few feet away, but she sank deep into a marshmallow mattress. A hand reached for her. Alex? Maria? A scream of static flashed and she saw Zan. No, Max again. She let herself be pulled up when his head snapped to the side and she fell from his grip. Max reached for her, but it was too late as Liz sank back down, through the floor, landing with a gasp on the dusty darkened floor of the diner. She shook her head and realized that the room wasn't dark at all. It was full of people, very important people who were studying her, watching with great red pens ready to mark down the moment she dropped a dish or failed to smile wide enough. Already, the disapproving smirks came as she brushed herself off and straightened her uniform. Liz felt her smile growing wider and wider. Her face hurt with its forced grin as she pirouetted her way to the kitchen to pick up the Saturn rings for table two. The watchers began writing, the scratching growing louder and louder on the open notebooks. For a moment, all Liz could hear was the writing. She piled her tray up high with her orders, intent on giving everyone what the wanted as fast as possible. Liz moved to the first table and set the plate before the customer. He and his partner looked at each other, then leaned over a marked a giant "A" on her palm. Liz blushed. The tint still on her cheeks as she reached the next table, Liz gasped as a shadow flitted through her dreamscape. The couple there grumbled and leaned in to make their mark; but, with a dangerous rattle of the dishes, Liz whirled around, searching for the boogeyman she knew had come for her at last, that Alex had warned would come creeping in. With heaving breathes, Liz set the dishes down and backed against the nearest wall. All the red pens dropped, their owners disappeared. In the lone occupied booth were Isabel, Michael, Max, and Alex. The break room door swung open and Maria charged in. "There's a dark-" she broke off mid-sentence. "Did anyone see?" "The shadow," Liz whispered and joined her friends. Everything snapped into focus now. Michael stood while Liz took his place next to Max. Michael placed two chairs at the edge of the booth table for himself and his girlfriend. "I thought it was a wolf." Maria leaned against Michael. "Fear." Isabel stared at the table. "It's just fear, but it's my fear." "Why is your fear in my dream?" Liz asked. "In all our dreams," Max looked his sister dead in the eye. She was manipulating the dreamscape, Liz realized. "I'm not manipulating them on purpose," Isabel looked lost for a second until Alex reached over and entwined her hand in his own. "We were all touching and dreaming. I accidentally pulled you all into my dreams. You wouldn't have even known until I realized that this is not a good dream to get lost in." "What do you mean?" Michael tensed. "There are," Isabel closed her eyes, "things which you should never see. And my dreams are full of memories. "Alex- the other Alex- told me that these memories were here for better or for worse and he was right. It's for worse." "So you remember?" a sense of hesitation crept into Liz's voice. "I do. At least, I remember what Vilandra saw, what she did. You have to know. For knowledge itself is power. And I have to make sure that you know." Isabel waved her hand and the café motif faded into the Antarian plains, rolling with red grass and troops encamped as far as the eye could see. Khivar was sitting stiffly in a chair and looked a very poor imitation of the king he was trying to usurp. A smirk spoiled his attempt as he looked down at them. They were looking from Vilandra's vantage point, Liz realized when Vilandra's voice picked up. "Zan has gone completely insane. I know that love is fickle and overpowering," a pause and well-timed breath. "But really, I don't think he's stable. The winds of Antar blow far from the house of Zan. I thought perhaps you might, make a place for me," another pause, "somewhere in your house?" "I'm sure we can find an arrangement for one such as yourself." Khivar rose from his seat and reached for Vilandra's hand. They could all feel the repressed shudder as their flesh met. Isabel let the scene flash out, to the terrorized eyes of a courtier Vilandra had known since childhood. His gaze pled for help, or at least mercy, as Khivar slowly pulled strips of flesh from the man's body. Neekol had already mind-raped any useful information from the poor man (Vilandra couldn't bear to even think his name). Now, Khivar engaged in futile torture with a growing gleam in his eye. Another flash gave way to the palace overrun as citizens, senators, trusted friends fled Khivar as quickly as they could, shock and horror on their faces when they realized that the Princess stood at his side. The only assistance she could offer was to steer Khivar away from the agonies he enjoyed inflicting and toward quick, painless death. More times than not, as he seemed to revel in the gore, the splatter of blood as though it were paint on the canvas, she tweaked a vein or cut at the nervous system. And Vilandra knew he still suspected her, he seemed always on the verge of catching her simple mercies, constantly tried to coerce her into participating in her own games with the prisoners. But she feigned boredom and brought him to bed for him to sate his appetite with her. When he disappeared for days without word, she prayed for his death and searched for the seal and any way that she could implicate Khivar in the chaos. Despite his central role, no one seemed to realize yet exactly who was attacking the Antarian Empire. Liz could tell that Isabel was still giving them a censored version of what Vilandra had seen in the camp with Khivar. The memories she offered up were blurred, ended at the bedroom door and never showed faces of the victims. Half the planet's population had been slaughtered in the first six months. Thousands falling to Khivar's orders and his " entertainment." At last, Isabel changed the scene to the palace. Neekol was leading her through the greenhouse, now blackened and the windows shattered. The plants were trampled, the equipment overturned. It was a world away from where Zan and L'arala had made their discoveries together. Vilandra blocked it from her mind and braced herself to face her courtiers betrayed, her home destroyed. Neekol opened the heavy doors to the throne room with a wave of his hand. With a smirk, he turned back and motioned for her entry. Once she moved past Neekol's revolting countenance, her gaze focused on the two people sitting on the throne: Khivar and L'arala. Khivar shot up from his seat and raced across the room. L'arala looked disappointed, but not surprised to see Vilandra enter. While Khivar went about shoving his tongue down Vilandra's throat, the woman she had hoped to one day call sister repressed a gag. "My dear, Vilandra," Khivar at last released Vilandra as he pulled her like an excited child toward the throne room. "I have a gift! For both of my lovelies." He ran a cool hand along L'arala's jaw line and Vilandra could see the woman was not a good actress. Khivar must have seen through her façade and simply enjoyed tormenting her with his multitude of small touches. "L'arala is just as angry at your brother as you, Lonnie," Khivar nodded at two of the soldiers standing nearby. They took off in opposite directions. "I believe he misrepresented himself to the fair princess and made off with her. favor?" L'arala flushed in anger at Khivar's insinuation but simply pursed her lips and stayed silent. She stared past Khivar with poorly feigned nonchalance. When a barely muted cry fell from her lips, Vilandra whirled around. The soldiers had returned, one dragging her brother, bound and gagged, and the other with a tight grip on Alior. Nearly gnawing a hole in her lip, Vilandra managed to keep her mouth shut. L'arala, however, completely lost her pretense and raced from the throne to Zan's side. "L'arala," Zan's voice came in a whisper and he swayed as she swept him in her small embrace. "I came for you. I knew they had to be wrong, you didn't believe the traitor's lies." The soldier attempted to fling the king to the wall with his powers, but Zan kept a tight mental defense around himself and the guard did nothing more than exhaust himself. "Idiot," Khivar closed the distance and smacked Zan with a resounding snap of his fist on bone. L'arala screeched and threw herself at Khivar, who caught the small royal in his grip and in turn flung her several feet away. She didn't move for a tense minute, then crawled back to Zan. The other guard pushed Alior, his hands tied behind him, to his knees. L'arala kept a hand on Zan, but reached out to caress Alior. Alior remained focused on Vilandra the entire time, though. He stared at her, her eyes, looking for something. She ducked her gaze, but he found her eyes again and again. Alior was about to break her when nothing else had. Instead, she followed Khivar's movements. He stepped back from the three on the floor and came closer to her. "Lonnie, I offer you a gift, a choice." Khivar pulled something from the folds of his robe. Something metallic. "This traitor killed several of my men in an attempt to 'rescue' you. Seems some careless warrior let someone escape and they carried word of your presence to B'ril. He has slaughtered many of our own in an attempt to steal you from me. For that, he must be punished. "However, the Great One smiles on us. Your idiot brother dragged Ava back to this forsaken relic of his reign when he heard that L'arala had come back with me from my last. diplomatic mission. Amazing the lies, we'll let ourselves believe," Khivar directed the last comment to L'arala. "But thanks to her willing naïveté, I had the best bait for the once and future king. Thanks to her, he will lose his throne if not his head." Khivar knelt at Vilandra's feet and produced the knife, laying its hilt in her hands. He planted a kiss on her cheek, then whispered. "I had planned to wed Ava to secure my reign, but you. you have intoxicated me like no other with your thirst for power and vengeance. For you, I will willingly share my throne." Khivar dipped down and again the scene flashed forward, mid-speech. "-can choose. I can make an honor bargain. Which is more important to you, defend your honor or quench your thirst for revenge." Khivar stood and backed from the tableau, leaving Vilandra looking back and forth between Zan and Alior. L'arala was held back by Neekol. Vilandra seemed frozen, then stepped towards Alior. Her face stony, she looked him in the eye, trying to convey everything that she wished they could have had and everything she felt in a brief stare. The knife felt heavy. Other than in museums, Vilandra had never seen anything like this. Alior looked at her with such a sense of betrayal that she almost shoved it through her own heart. But duty took control. If Zan did not live, then this was all for nothing. Every life she let dim, all the psychic reverb, Vilandra let it course through her system in a violent banshee wail. The world darkened for a moment and briefly her shields shattered. Something in her spirit tore to pieces. When the world again came into focus, the knife was in Alior and his broken body lay crumpled at her feet.  
"Beautiful, my precious," Khivar moved back toward her and ran his finger along her back. "Thank you for leaving your brother for me."  
"No!" Vilandra cried out and tried to pull the knife from Alior. It took much more effort than she'd expected. Tears rolled down her cheeks, blurring the scene. The knife popped with a sickening wet sound. With the weapon in her hand, Vilandra lunged to where Khivar had been.  
"Kreethlat!" the ancient curse for Antarian traitors flew from just inches away. Khivar's voice rang in her ear. She felt Khivar's hand wrap around hers from behind and turn the knife. Vilandra tumbled and the memory blackened.  
  
The dreamscape returned to the café. Isabel hung her head and they could hear the tears in her voice. "Whitaker was right, I betrayed everyone, even my love." She turned to face Alex. "I could have stopped it, stopped him. But I was too scared. "I killed you," Isabel bit back sobs. "In two lifetimes. It was always my fault." Alex wrapped an arm around her, desperately trying to reach the memories he knew he once had. Alior's memories and the things he'd learned on the other side were Swiss cheesed. He didn't feel betrayed by Isabel or Vilandra. "Isabel, Alior was the one who brought Kathana the DNA. He died after Vilandra." Liz grabbed Isabel's hand. "She told us so!" "How can that be? I know I killed him. I hit him hard." "He didn't die then, not at your hand. Because he got out of that palace with the DNA of the Royal Four."  
"What happened that night?" Isabel asked of no one in particular. "I remember! I remember almost everything and I still have no idea what the hell went on!"  
"We're leaving for Antar soon," Michael stroked Maria's hair as tears rolled down her cheeks. "We'll find out."  
The Close Encounters door chime played and they all looked at the entrance. No one was there, but it rang again. And again  
  
A chime from the door rang out. Liz's eyes opened and she realized they were no longer on the dream plane. She slowly stood up, reluctant to move away from Alex and the others, filled with the irrational fear that Alex would disappear again. The door slid open to reveal Noril.  
  
"My apologies for the interruption, but we are ready to board the transport for Antar." Noril looked around the room with interest. He knew something was different. "We should prepare the quarters for how many?"  
  
"Three." "Six." "Two."  
  
The chorus of varying answers from the rest crowd threatened to break into an all out argument as they turned to face each other.  
  
"You're not going!" Michael spun to face Maria. "Not after what we saw in Isabel's memories."  
  
"What makes you think you're leaving any of us behind, Spaceboy?" Maria poked her boyfriend in the chest, almost hard enough to cause pain. While they issued a number of verbal barbs, Max and Liz glared at each other. Max could feel the ire coming from Liz and as she opened her mouth to speak, Alex's voice came, a soft but firm tone.  
  
"We're all going." Everyone stopped and looked at him, including Noril. "Speaking from the fatally wounded in a former life contingent, we have to end this. I don't know how I know this, but we all have to be there for that to happen. All eight of us. Tess and Kyle will be waiting for us. The only thing left is for us to end this thing." Alex glanced at Isabel, who nodded in agreement.  
  
"We have to go soon." Michael ran a hand through his hair as Isabel quickly remedied the sleep-ridden look from their cloths and hair. "Kathana and Larek have united for one final assault against Khivar. They are amassing all our troops, all of our resources behind us to get Tess and take out Khivar so we'll have a chance to sneak in. But his spies and outposts will notice the movements unless we get our asses to Antar. Now."  
  
"I guess we're all going," Max was the only who seemed to remember that Noril was still waiting for their answer.  
  
"As you wish. Please proceed to the transport at the royal chambers at your earliest possible convenience," Noril turned and they filed out of the room.  
  
Too short a time after this, at the transport, the group was uncharacteristically quiet. All the other ships were loaded with every able soldier on B'ril and headed to Antar. Tiersa and Serena stood slightly behind Kathana, their goodbyes already said. At long last, Kathana stood facing Noril, who would pilot the ship, and the six lone semi-humans. Noril paused at the entrance to the vessel, meeting Kathana's steady gaze and bowing. She shook only a bit as she bobbed her head infinitesimally. With a second of hesitation, Noril spun and entered the ship, out of sight.  
  
The Queen stepped toward Liz and pressed her check to Liz's.  
  
"May the next day dawn on us both, my daughter." Liz could hear the whisper of tears in this woman's voice. Kathana was old, Liz remembered. Older than Grandma Claudia and, while B'ril people lived much longer lives than humans, Kathana was very near the end of her life. A time when she should have been able to rejoice in grandchildren and travels through the system with Noril, without care to what the kingdom thought or wanted of her. She should have been able to leave the responsibilities of the throne to one of her daughters years ago. But now, instead of a blessed respite, she was faced with the potential end of both her daughters yet again. Liz saw suddenly what should be, like the when she recognized the end of a proof. Not quite sure of the path to it, she saw both she and Tess with Kathana, Khivar nothing but a horrible memory, her hand firmly grasped in Max's, and Serena leaning to whisper something in the Great Hall. In the midst of the tension and guilt and fear, a sense of peace stole over Liz.  
  
"Mother," Liz squared with her mother and looked her in the eyes. "Trust in the Great One. Trust that everything has happened and will happen for a reason. And we'll see it through to the end."  
  
"And that end will be a glorious beginning," Alex added from Isabel's side.  
  
Kathana raised her hands as high above the group's heads and brought them apart. "Go well." They boarded the ship quickly and quietly. As the doors sealed and the Granolith filled the chamber with its light, Kathana whispered: "Return to me." 


	18. Part 22

Author's Note: Yeah. Well, I suck. I'm unpunctual. I'm really, really bad. But I'm trying to do better! One of the big reasons for my complete inability to update is my new professional writing gig- I'm a staff writer at a real newspaper. Which makes it harder to write in my spare time, however. I'll be wrapping this story up very shortly (before New Year's) and I want to thank everyone for sticking with it, especially those who reviewed and emailed me to get my butt in gear. Now on with the show…

Chapter 22

Tess felt Kyle jerk beneath her, forcing her from her comfortable place on his chest. She slid off the nest he'd made for them on the floor, every part of her body aching. As the rolls of tension, a multitude of sharp pains, and pain through her back cascaded, she at last realized that Kyle had moved for a reason. She scanned the room and caught sight of Khivar, smirking over her prone form. Tess tried to scramble to her feet, but her body wouldn't let her. Kyle gave her a hand up as their son tossed and turned at Khivar's presence. Nausea threatened to eject what little she had in her stomach onto the cold floor. She felt Kyle awkwardly take what little of the pain he could.

"Prepare the promise robes. Zan and his group approach to make our little trade." Khivar leveled a glare at Kyle, who clenched and unclenched his fists, but stayed silent. A member of the contingent of guard behind him stepped forward and thrust something bright blue and silver into Kyle's grasp. "Your little guard may be the witness to the birth of the golden age."

Tess kept her gaze on the ground, afraid she would throw up at Khivar's feet and end their lives right there. "Yes, Khivar. I will be ready when you call."

Khivar turned and was out of the room almost before she'd finished. When the door slid shut, Tess wobbled and fell into Kyle's waiting arms.

"What's happening?"

"Something's wrong," Tess scrunched her face and bit back a moan of pain.

"Do you need help?" Kyle sat the mother of his child on the ground gently.

"I don't trust anyone here to help. I don't even know if we can tell people the truth or if that makes a difference." Tess closed her eyes and connected with their child. She gripped Kyle's hand tightly, pulling him in with her. Their son was terrified by Khivar's presence, but more than that- a building impatience. Tess tried to calm him as Kyle simply let his presence cloak them. The pain receded a bit and their son calmed temporarily, but it was a tense peace.

"Is there anything we can do? Light some incense, chant, something?" Kyle prodded.

"I don't know, Kyle," the tears threatened to fall. So much for so long had rested on her shoulders. Why Ava had wanted to have the fate of an entire people on her shoulders when Tess could hardly bear the three in this room, she would never understand. Waves of exhaustion and stress crashed through her as she realized that this day would change the course of their lives forever. Either they would triumph over Khivar and bring the new age that Zan and L'arala had intended or they would fail and drag millions, including their unborn son, down with them.

"Shh," Kyle gathered his love in his arms and wiped the tears away. "You'll ruin Nicholas's nice makeup job. I'm a lot of things, but good with a blush brush ain't one of them."

"I'm sorry, I just… It's so hard. So much that I wanted to make up for and now our son…" Tess trailed off and closed her eyes. She felt Kyle's arms wrap around her aching back. He massaged his way from the base of her spine upward, along the small bones, pushing some of the pain away. He reached her shoulders and snaked to her neck while letting her lean against him. While she enjoyed the brief respite from the relentless discomfort, Kyle pulled the wrinkled dress she'd slept in over her head. He paused to wrap the blue robe around her. It was actually tight across her swollen breasts, but she managed to make herself presentable. Then he arranged the flowing skirt and left her protruding belly uncovered for the moment. The child inside was so small, a little bigger than Kyle's hand, but such a substantial figure in their every moment.

Kyle propped himself up against the bed, then reached around to place his hands on either side of her stomach. As their connection flared to life without prompting, Tess set her hands on his. "Can we just stay like this forever?"

"I wish," Kyle sighed. The urge to speak was fading in the unity of their connection, which grew in every moment. "Let's just be in this moment as long as we have it."

Tess felt him drift away from the intensity of the connection, present but not fully cognizant of her, nor she of him. Then she flashed out of the connection.

_Tess knew that something important was happening, but was unable to keep focused until a young man, not much older than she, grabbed her hand in the middle of batting away dark shadows._

_"Hi." The small word seemed to have a deep meaning for the man. _

_"Hello." Tess stood, not sure what to do with this unfamiliar scenario._

_"I just spoke with him, told him what he has to do. Now I need to talk to you." Tess knew he was talking about Kyle and that this was no ordinary dream. She looked down and realized that on the dream plane, she wasn't pregnant. A moment of panic stole over her and, while she was sure this stranger meant no harm, her son was not in his usual place._

_"He's here. Just outside this conversation for a moment. Can't create a paradox, can we?"_

_Tess calmly nodded, not understanding but trusting. "Why are you here?"_

_"Why are any of us here?" the man looked serious for a millisecond, then a devilish grin stole across his face. "Sorry, I have a number of bad influences on my sense of humor. The Granolith sent me to tell you things. Very important things."_

"_What _is _the Granolith?" Tess asked in awe._

"_A better question might be what isn't it. Since the beginning of our civilization, the Granolith has been used as an instrument of great creation, of dangerous changes, of complete destruction. It is the guardian of our worlds, an avatar of the Great One and the power of our people. It holds the wisdom and power of the mystics and bestows power upon the worthy. In many ways, it's all knowing when used properly. We've used the Granolith as it was intended and it asks of us what it needs. Sometimes what we need."_

"_Oh." Something tickled at the edge of Tess's consciousness. Something the stranger had said- "Oh my God, that's why Khivar wants the Granolith. He wants to transfer that power to himself!"_

"_Yes, grasshopper." The man smiled. "And this, of course, cannot happen. Many dire and earth shattering consequences. Doom, gloom, all sorts of bad stuff. But you knew that part already. There are other things you need to know and the Granolith needs to tell."_

"_Like what?" Tess watched as a bluish glow began to spread over the man's face. It seemed to be coming from within him until suddenly it was outside of him and pulled her down into the light. "When it's time, come here. Let it happen before it's too late. You all need to know, you need to act, then, most importantly, Mom, you need to live."_

Before she could ask another question, a burst of pain ripped her from the dream. Kyle was clutching her and they struggled to stand. Tess knew.

"Kyle, the baby!" a wrenching breath came from Tess's prone form.

"Doesn't your water have to break or something?" he asked.

"I don't know," never before had Tess felt more like a normal, scared teenager. Nascedo had never told her how much it would hurt.

"Maybe you should walk around or sit down or-" Tess decided for him, wrapping the robe back around her belly. She began trundling along a short path from the bed to the mirror.

Out of suggestions, Kyle turned to the other task on his mind.

Pulling one of the sheets from the bed, he wrapped his fist in it and broke the mirror with a solid pound. Then he picked two long, sharp slivers from the spider web of cracks. Without a word, he slipped them up his sleeve and turned back to Tess.

"They're coming."

"I know," Tess whispered between heavy breaths. Kyle moved to her and put a hand on the small of her back. Reluctantly, she passed some of the pain to him.

"Damn! New respect for women," Kyle tried not to show how unsteady the burst had made him.

"Remember this next time you're telling me all about the painful wrestling injuries, okay?" she repressed her laughter. The aching and shooting pain in her back were dim enough that she could move. The door slid open with one of Khivar's servants waiting.

"It's time, milady."

With Kyle's arm wrapped around her waist, Tess headed to the great hall.

The transport pod carrying the remaining Roswellians hovered just beyond the range of Khivar's internal sensors. They'd burst through the outer series with the rest of their squadron, then broke away. Now they were just a few moments from the castle, waiting for the signal that the incendiary devices had been planted.

A few intimate moments were being shared in these last, tense moments.

Maria was half-sitting in Michael's lap, their arms intertwined. For once, both were silent. Their eyes were fixed on the bright stars lightly shining through the violet sky. It was before sunrise. So early, yet it felt so late.

Max walked over to Liz, whose gaze was fixed on the computer panel.

"It's very strange," she whispered, not looking up.

"What is?"

"This- life. My life. Half of me wants to grab you here and now, and half of me wants to push you so far away for your own good, for my people."

"I guess I made it tough for you," Max replied. "I really don't remember being Zan. Not more than the memories we've gotten since leaving Earth."

Liz shook her head.

"It's not even about L'arala and Liz. It's about duty and honor and love and all that stuff that they made look so good in the movies. But it's not- it's hard. And no matter what things aren't going to be perfect."

"Liz, I can give you strange, I can give you happy, I can even give it a shot a normal," Max brushed her hair back from her face in a soft caress, lingering at the warm spot behind her ear. "But perfect is beyond even my capabilities."

She smiled and didn't push his hand away.

"Let's just see if we can find the marriage contract," Liz let him lean in and was ready to allow him to give her a long-awaited kiss. The Granolith flashed. The scene outside began to blur as the ship picked up speed.

Within moments, they were a few yards from a smoking hole in the palace wall. The explosion had done its job. Max opened one of the compartments and passed out the small store of weapons. He grasped a dark case toward the back, one he had specifically requested placed there by Noril. From it, he took a thick silver dagger and a black sheath.

The group took a collective breath, but no one stopped Max from hooking it to his pants.

"Isabel, you, Maria and Alex find the seal and keep our exits clear," Max ordered. "Liz, Michael and I will find Kyle and Tess."

Without question, the group followed his instructions. They piled out of the ship. No one looked behind them, however, and they missed the beam of light gathering within the Granolith. It almost filled the crystalline structure and seemed about to overflow.

Inside the palace, the sound of troops echoed through the halls. The pounding of feet, the sizzling sound of laser fire and the smell of smoke drifted along the ceiling. A few minutes ago a thunderous explosion had shaken the walls.

When they emerged into the Great Hall, there Khivar stood in fine Antarian regalia, his Senate uniform if Tess remembered correctly. The blue and white reminded her faintly of a cheesy prom tux and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

The pains were closer together now. And they were getting worse. Walking had helped a little bit, but Tess was sure she would be able to stand much longer.

"Welcome, Ava, darling," Khivar held out his hand. Tess did not take it. A shadow of rage darkened his expression. It turned to angry amusement when he saw the widow's mark on her face. He then yanked her by the elbow and pulled her to his side. "Come, come, we're about to be joined for all eternity, Ava."

"Who's going to marry us?" Tess shot back. "The servants?"

"Neekol was a mystic of some regard in a previous life as I recall. He'll do- no matter what body he's in," Khivar sneered. Then he turned to thin air. "I know you're here, lieutenant. One of my servants reported a bit of memory loss last night. Tsk, tsk. Not coming by to say hello."

Tess's knees weakened and she began to fall. Another contraction wracked her body.

Khivar's hand grabbed hers and the floor began to suck her down. Only his iron grip kept her upright.

"Now, now, Ava, not till we've got this little ceremony finished. Then you can pass out, die, whatever it is you have planned here," his hot breath sent shudders down her spine. "Now, Neekol!"

Kyle went ramrod straight and move forward from his place behind Tess.

"Yes, my lord," the tone bordered on bored and flippant. Tears at last poured down her cheeks. She watched Kyle's body, with Neekol in control, step onto the small platform where the thrones sat.

She began to cry in earnest when Neekol cocked his head and shook the slivers of glass from Kyle's sleeve. The shards fell to the ground, far from her reach.

"Well, let us begin," he reached out and put Tess's hand on top of Khivar's. "The joining of B'ril and Antar in the sacred, the eternal and the… carnal shall be commenced-"

The far doors nearest the courtyard flew open. Tess turned to see Max, Liz, and Michael race into the room. Another labor pain racked her body.

"Welcome, young Zan," Khivar said. "Sit, enjoy the proceedings."

He motioned for the soldiers to move in, but before they had taken a step, a brilliant blue bubble of light passed through the light, then over them. It encompassed the room, almost blinding them. Then it popped and the world had changed.


	19. Part 23

Thanks for the reviews and emails. I had a small plot hole problem, but it has been resolved. Apologies yet again for the delays, but we're almost there, folks. One more chapter and an epilogue are shortly forthcoming. Thanks for all your great feedback. Amen, God bless and all that.

Chapter 23 

Liz blinked and grew dizzy at the sudden change in perspective. She was now in front of the thrones. Khivar stood in the center of the room, a handbreadth from Isabel, who was spattered in blood and was crouched over the body of Alex. Tess and Kyle were nowhere to be seen, and Max had moved across the room with her. He was bound and on his knees, only a few paces from Khivar.

_Zan!_ L'arala's powers burst from her. Liz was a spectator in her own mind as she suspected they all were. Her former personality was in control.

_I'm fine L'arala. Help me get my hands free so I can heal Alior, he's not yet dead._ Zan's voice whispered through her head. L'arala channeled her energy through Zan. She focused on her love and the desperation of the moment. From the moment Khivar had come to her with his tale, a story she forced herself to believe, each event seemed to be inevitable.

After weeks of shutting herself off from everyone but M'lin, Khivar appeared to collect Ava for the wedding. The royal armada was boarded, but K'hivar's smaller ship lingered.

With his soothing yet concerned voice and glacier-like shields, Khivar told her that Zan had been acting oddly, that his ripped his royal quarters apart. That his troops were on the march, that even Rath had abandoned him. That Vilandra had come to Khivar in the night with the belief that her brother was not worthy of the throne.

She remembered his hand on her back. His mention of a solution, of her abilities.

It was oddly easier to believe Zan crazy than in love with her sister, so she agreed. Now, it seemed remarkably stupid to leave B'ril with Khivar in the dark of night and ignore the pleas of her mother. Even now, as Zan's bonds snapped and he reached out to knit together the ripped flesh, L'arala knew there was little hope. This life was beyond their control.

Zan's energy had just begun to heal Alior when Vilandra lost control.

The cry of traitor erupted from Vilandra and she flew at Khivar.

"No!" cried Zan.

Khivar's hand wrapped around Vilandra's and turned the knife. It plunged into her heart.

L'arala tried to reach out and take control of Khivar's mind, do enough to stop him. But he moved without hesitation. He pulled the knife out and, in a final act, drew it across her throat. Vilandra fell limp to the ground, the pool of dark blood pouring out.

Their connection still open, L'arala felt Zan's shock. He broke from Alior and moved toward his sister. Almost as though it were she trying to heal Vilandra, L'arala grasped with Zan for a connection. But the life was gone and her essence hadn't lingered.

Zan turned his energy toward Khivar. He flung a guard to the ground and reached out as he brought the laser pistol sliding across the floor. Zan sent a burst of mental energy to Khivar. Nothing happened.

L'arala saw the glint of steel. Khivar was wielding the knife again. This time with Zan in mind. Before she truly knew what she was doing, her body convulsed and she was racing to close the distance between her and Zan.

She had little telekinesis of her own, so L'arala did the one thing she swore never to employ: a mind-rape. Flinging mental energy like a harpoon into Khivar's mind, she tried for the most painful bursts in the heart of his cerebral cortex.

Nothing happened.

L'arala's body was still moving while her mind was working and it crashed into Khivar, sending him sprawling to the ground. The knife fell from his grasp and she scrambled to grab it.

The cool metal was in her grasp, but Khivar was almost on her.

A force buffeted her back against the wall. Hard, hard enough to dent the metal. It was familiar, it was Zan. She looked at him in fright.

_Run. He wants that knife. I don't know why but he wants it,_ Zan moved toward Khivar. _I'll delay him as best I can. Rath should be coming with the troops. He'll be here soon, I know it. Run!_

L'arala obeyed, she gathered herself and ran from the room wildly with idea where to go. She headed down the hall and toward a corridor that looked vaguely familiar. It led to a series of doors. Feeling compelled, she opened one and stepped in.

There was Ava, deep in a screaming match with Kale. They stood on a great seal in front of what might have been a royal marital bed, but the sheets were torn apart.

Ava didn't even register her sister's presence. The once perpetually-regal looking woman looked much smaller, her clothing ripped and a spread of bruising on her arms and neck. A great splotch of red screamed from her pale cheek. Tears were gathered in her eyes.

"Such a thing has never happened to any of our people since the First Awakening!" Kale's guttural voice rose. He pulled a small phaser from its hip holster. Used for decoration most of the time, it could be lethal in the wrong hands. "To have desecrated my- our queen. He must pay!"

"Kale, no!" the terror rose in Ava's reply. "You can't! He has a great power- you think I didn't try to resist! Khivar cannot be stopped by any of us."

L'arala shut the door behind her and faced her sister.

"L'arala!" Ava realized her sister was there. She locked her shaky shields into place, unable to totally repress the childlike urge to throw herself at L'arala's feet in sobs. "How did you get here? What- where is Khivar? Where is Zan?"

"There is no time. You have to get out of here," L'arala knew she was not destined to leave this palace ever again. The place she had hoped to be her home in life would become her home in death. She shoved the knife into Kale's hands. "Take this and go to B'ril. Tell them what Khivar has done. I need to go back to Zan."

"I'm sorry, L'arala-" she began.

"Ava, don't be sorry. Just help me," L'arala felt her connection with Zan go blank. Something had happened, but he was still alive. "We don't have the time. Khivar will come for me. Kale, get her out of here and take the knife to the Granolith. It will know what to do."

With a curt nod, Kale grabbed Ava and pulled her down the hall with him, toward the bank of ships. They safely rounded the corner and L'arala headed back to Zan.

_Zan, I'm coming,_ she poured every bit of hope through their barely tangible link.

She turned toward the Great Hall and ran smack into Khivar. His thick body blocked her exit. L'arala scrambled away from him, but he grabbed her wrist with brutal force. She heard a bone crack and screamed a little.

"You, little one, I might have allowed a place as a concubine. Your sister proved quite troublesome," Khivar gave an evil grin. He half-dragged her back to the bedroom. "Shall we go see her? Have her watch?"

He didn't know Ava had fled. L'arala feigned resistance as he took her back to the royal bedchambers. The door opened and Khivar threw her to the ground. She landed on the seal with a sickening thud against the raised surface.

Through the throb of her own pain, L'arala felt Zan rouse to consciousness. He was coming to her rescue. A trickle of hope came forward. If she could just stay alive long enough, maybe…

"You don't have your little knife, Khivar," L'arala sounded far more confident than she felt.

"For you," Khivar ran a hand along her chin. "I don't need my little blade."

L'arala met his eyes. She saw nothing, no soul, no essence. An empty and sucking vessel, like a black hole in the night sky.

Khivar gave her another of his cruel smiles and reached behind him. He pulled a slim curved blade from some orifice of his body.

A scream came from the doorway. Ava moved toward them.

With deadly speed and precision, he shoved it through L'arala's abdomen and up with a twist. A second too late, Ava knocked him away from her sister.

L'arala looked up at Ava, a surprised expression on her face as she saw the blood stain spreading. The patch quickly soaked through the front of her dress and began dripping slowly onto the floor, hitting the seal of Antar.

"L'arala! No!" Ava pushed her hands on the wound as L'arala collapsed in an ungainly heap. The shields Ava had locked into place the night she'd made her decision to join Khivar completely shattered.

_Zan_! Her cry was a desperate shriek, both physical and mental, but Zan was still rooms away.

L'arala reached for her love with a gentle caress. The king couldn't save L'arala and they both knew it.

Ava's mental shriek, her keening howl resounded in the minds of the entire palace. L'arala felt her sister massaging the tattered remains of their bond, barely enough to give her access.

_L'arala, please don't go. I need to make things right._ Tears poured from Ava's eyes as she futilely pressed her hand against the stream of blood. L'arala was somewhere else for an unbearable minute. The light faded from L'arala's eyes and the doors in her mind began to shut, knowing she was moving to the next life.

L'arala looked up at her sister and whispered to her sister's mind, _Forgiveness is an act of compassion. It's not done because you deserve it; it's done because you need it. So, I forgive you. Goodbye, my sister. Care for Zan for me and send Khivar to meet me soon._

And with that, she closed her eyes and went into that good night.

Liz opened her eyes. She stood in the room still, watching Tess holding her still body, weeping.

"Liz!" Isabel clutched at her. "Oh, my God!"

"What's going on?" Liz began to cry as the scene continued without her. She still felt L'arala's emotions, had her memories, her urge to act in this time and place. She remembered everything.

"The Granolith, it's showing how it all happened," Isabel answered. "Alior isn't dead. Zan managed to heal him enough to go on."

Liz nodded. L'arala had known that on some level.

"Where's Michael?" she asked Isabel.

"I don't know. There's some kind of battle going on outside. I think he's leading it."

Liz listened and heard the sounds of shouts, of sizzles and low thuds. Her attention went back to Tess and Khivar, though, when she saw Kale race into the room. He had a deadly rage in his gaze. A blaze of pyromania was building in him.

"No," said Tess. She put up her hand and focused on Khivar. Liz and Isabel saw a ghostly image of the mind warp she was constructing. In it, L'arala rose and moved toward Khivar with the ceremonial knife in her ghostly hand.

A twitch passed over Khivar's lips. He moved toward Tess and Kale, away from L'arala's body. Tess and Kyle circled, putting Khivar close to the door and them nearer the wall. Khivar licked his lips and wiped his blade on his pants.

"He's not really in the mind warp," Liz said worriedly.

"Tess- Ava didn't know that," Isabel watched in morbid fascination. "I think I know what happens next."

With that, Zan appeared in the hallway. Liz felt the crushing power of his grief, of Max's grief. He was looking to die in this room and take everyone with him.

Zan looked at the trio, Tess's look of concentration, Kale's wide eyes and Khivar's slow, smooth movement. Liz saw Khivar catch sight of Kale's reaction. He knew Zan was behind him.

In one fluid motion, Khivar shoved his blade behind him, barely missing Zan's heart. He pulled it out and the blood poured down Zan's beaten chest. But the true king still attacked. Heavy objects lifted from around the room. They flew at Khivar, becoming living instruments of Zan's rage.

A thick vase cracked against Khivar's skull. The tinkling of glass shards filled Liz's ears. That was the last of Zan's strength. He fell to his knees over L'arala's body and even his grief was sucked from him.

But still, Khivar moved. He heaved himself up to a sitting position. The blood dripped down his cheeks, giving him a more demonic look. Against Zan, Ava and Kale, he wouldn't have had a chance, but Liz felt another presence in the room.

Ava, who had been watching in shock and maintaining the frozen mindwarp, suddenly straightened. Her eyes darted around the room, took in the scene. A wicked smile came over her, then she coyly leaned against Kale.

"Neekol!" Isabel cried out, to no avail. "He's in her!"

Ava's arm slipped around Kale. The guard didn't react, just pulled her tighter. Then, she pulled the hidden phaser from the holster.

It went off with a sizzle of flesh. Kale slumped to the floor with a surprised look. Ava's body squeezed the trigger again and Kale convulsed.

Kyle appeared beside Liz and Isabel.

"Holy Buddha!" he patted his side where the phaser burns had just been. "What the hell?"

"It's almost over," tears rolled down Isabel's face. "They're going to die together."

A cadre of soldier rushed in and Ava's body went limp. A shaky Khivar stood over Zan's body. He delivered a swift kick.

"Bind these two and take them to the courtyard for their troops to see," Khivar wiped the blood from his brow. He bent down a gave a last caress to L'arala's pale face. "And dispose of the bodies."

"Dispose, sire?"

"Burn them, feed them to the peasants, just make sure they are not discovered by some witless chamber maid!" Khivar marched out of the room.

The men obeyed, though a few hesitated when they saw L'arala's bloodied corpse and Zan's limp body thrown across it.

The scene snapped like a rubber band and Liz, Kyle and Isabel found themselves out in the courtyard. Vilandra's body was already strung up against the shining tower of her palace. Clusters of loyalist troops were held by Khivar's men.

They watched in helpless, abject horror as Zan and Ava were dumped on the stage. From the crowd of prisoners, the soldiers pushed forward Rath. His ceremonial armor stripped and his hands bound, the commander could not even defend himself.

"Zan!" he cried out when he saw his brother in arms lying on the ground. Liz watched at Rath was lined up on Zan's opposite side. A piece of rope tied to the high wall was looped to his bound hands and a violent yank from somewhere above brought Rath to his feet, arms held above his head. It pulled until he dangled just an inch or so off the ground, his feet dancing desperately for footing just too far away.

The men repeated it with Zan and Ava, both of whom hung limp.

Khivar brandished the blade that had taken the lives of Vilandra and Kale, the thick ancient looking knife.

"This is the blade of my family," Khivar yelled into the mass of people watching the spectacle. "It was passed down for generations, blessed by the Granolith and the means by which I and all of Antar will be blessed."

"No," Kyle shook his head. "I hid the knife. No way he could have found it so fast."

"Where the hell did you put it?" Isabel turned from the horrific scene before them as Khivar continued his rant.

"I- Kale used his powers to open one of the walls, behind one of the seals," Kyle answered. "And Khivar doesn't have any powers. He couldn't get to it!"

"What?" Liz tilted her head. "He, but all Antarians have-"

"Not Khivar. Have you ever seen him use powers?" Kyle asked. "And your powers, like Ava's mind warp, won't work on him. He's gotta go out the old fashioned way."

"I think I know why he's fixated on that knife," Liz turned to face Khivar. "He thinks it will get him powers. Or that the Granolith will."

"There are other knives," said Isabel. "Noril said there are five, one on each planet. Max has one with him now. Or later. Er, in the present."

"That's why Khivar wants the Granolith. And why he's been going through each of the planets- looking for these knives. And why he wants the Granolith, too," Liz reasoned.

"How are we gonna get him? Back there, Nikol had pretty much total control," Kyle shook his head.

"We can shake Nikol," Isabel looked at Liz and Kyle, her gaze focused on their minds. "The change is finished."

"What?" Kyle took a step back.

"What Max started when he healed you, the changes. And if this groovy little technicolor flashback wasn't enough of a trigger, I don't know what is," Isabel placed a gentle hand on Kyle. "When you wake up, you'll still remember Kale and Liz will remember L'arala. So will everyone who's been pulled into this thing. And with that knowledge, their powers should be reactivated. Nikol can't control a B'ril mind with all its... faculties."

A small smile passed over Isabel's lips as her insinuation sunk in.

"Then I think I've got a plan," Liz announced. "We just need to let Michael and Max know."

"And Tess," Kyle said emphatically.

"Of course," Liz replied. "But she's a little busy right now. She's going into labor, so Max and Michael need to do most of the work."

They turned toward the two in question. Khivar, his speech over, stepped toward the royals.

All three of the Roswellian observers turned their heads. Liz didn't want to see, but looked at the last minute.

With a swift movement, he sliced the knife across Rath's throat, then his abdomen. Then, with a flash of silver, he disemboweled Zan and Ava. A strange half-cheer, half-growl rippled through the crowd and that bodies were raised high so all could see.

Liz felt the world tremble. Max, Michael and Tess appeared next to them, shocked.

"We need to talk, fast," Liz announced. They circled with one eye on the blue light that had begun to creep into the courtyard. Within moments, it had overwhelmed them and washed the past away.


	20. Parts 24a and 24b

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback and encouragement. I'm sorry this took so long to get out. I have nothing to blame except laziness and writer's block. However, it is the last formal chapter and will effectively conclude most of the story. An epilogue is still in the works and with any luck will be posted by the end of the weekend.

All the best,

Mariah 

Chapter 24a

It took a few moments for Liz to regain her equilibrium. She, Max and Michael blocked the doorway. Her head swam with too much information. The world had been moved infinitesimally from its axis. Everything seemed the same, but Liz knew that she was different. Her mind was full and buzzing, as though all the variables of an immense formula had suddenly come together.

Fear and pain from Tess, rage building in Kyle and the strange shadowy veil of Neekol's presence, Max and Michael were both anxious and waiting for her plan to take action. Waiting for Isabel. Max's hand itched for the knife at his side. She felt the fear and the uncertainty from the soldiers in the room.

Khivar grabbed Tess and held her pregnant body against his. An unwilling groan came from her. Liz gasped as empathic echoes of Tess's contractions hit her. Max's hand wrapped around her bicep.

For a second, she felt more as her mind continued past the room. The crashing waves of emotion and sentience from across the planet, maybe beyond. It threatened to shove her to her knees.

Suddenly Liz remembered how to shield. Like a disused muscle, it ached and took her several minutes to pull it together, but at last everyone's emotions faded. Except for the white noise that was Khivar, the rest faded.

She was ready to take on Khivar.

Max and Michael looked at her, making sure the plan would go ahead. Isabel, Maria and Alex were on their way with the remaining blade. Once Khivar had them, they could give him the "powers" he wanted so badly and Max could take Khivar out while he was distracted.

"Get out," Liz stated plainly, ignoring Khivar for the moment and focusing on Neekol. The parasite hesitated and a look of confusion passed over Kyle's face.

_Kyle, push with me," _Liz instructed.

_How?_

_Kale knew, so you know,_ Liz gave Neekol a mental shove. Kyle joined her and soon he was free of Neekol. The energy rider disappeared from the Kyle's body.

Don't let Khivar know Neekol is gone and be ready when we start the act.

"Little girl, I don't know who you are, but I believe my fight is with Zan," Khivar missed the brief mental exchange between Liz and Kyle.

"Your fight is with all of us," Liz responded. Every regal instinct that L'arala had repressed surged forth in Liz. "Get your hands off my sister!"

Khivar cocked his head, then straightened, pulling Tess's short frame to her tiptoes. A slight whimper came from the blond.

"Ah, L'arala? Did they clone your pathetic highness as well? Perhaps I won't need Ava and her little half-breed," Khivar's fingers noticeably tightened. His other hand went to his knife. "You were quite willing at one time."

"Wait," Max commanded. "We're can work out a truce or a trade or something."

Khivar's grasp on Tess loosened, but he kept his palm on the handle of the knife. Max's hand moved toward the one sheathed at his waist.

_Neekol_, Liz focused briefly on the slinking source of energy behind Kyle. _I know you're still there._

_What can I do for you, Princess?_ Even half-gone from this realm, Neekol managed to infect his mental tone with scorn and exhaustion. _I've lost. Even if Khivar wins, my energy is so far gone. I'll have to face whatever punishment is my due._

_You don't have long to earn redemption, but you have a shot,"_ Liz told him. _If you want any chance, you'll help us._

Neekol was silent. For a minute, Liz thought he had already passed over. He had very little energy left, not even enough to take over another host.

_What?_

_Stay quiet and let this happen. Don't let Khivar know what we're doing. _She felt his hesitation, then Neekol was gone, his grip on this world released.

Liz looked over at Michael, realizing that the silence had lasted just a little too long.

"Which planet is that knife from?" asked Michael, picking up on Liz's vibe. "We know you need all of them and you're still missing two. Probably the most important one- the one from Antar that Kale stole. And the one Larek sent to B'ril for safekeeping."

"Well, Ava was good enough to bring me B'ril's sacred blade and the people of Rydanzk fell quite quickly. The shapeshifters took a bit longer but still," Khivar fingered the knife. "I managed to take Hanor's blade after the coward fled to Earth. The Earthlings were nice enough to kill her for me when she and her guards took your pods to that backward little planet."

Liz felt Alex, Maria and Isabel coming moments before hearing their footfalls in the hallway. She would probably have heard them earlier if it weren't for the echoes of the fighting outside that rang through the hall.

Isabel held Alex's hand in her left and in her other clutched a slightly tarnished and dusty blade, only the sliver of blue crystal in the hilt any sign of its value. They entered the room, starling Khivar slightly but none of the Roswellians turned.

"Vilandra, my dear," Khivar purred.

"I'm your _nothing_," Isabel spit.

"Ah, unlike your dupe, you've remembered more than Neekol chose to tell," Khivar glanced over at Kyle.

"I should have brought Lonnie to you, sire," Kyle said, edging closer to Khivar. "She is the superior model. Maybe there will be time after this."

"Perhaps," Khivar gave a slight second glance at Kyle, and then dismissed him when he saw the blade. "You've brought both with you. How incredibly stupid!"

"Interested in a trade now?" Max asked as Isabel handed the second blade to him.

"Neekol, retrieve the others," Khivar commanded. He didn't see Kyle's hesitation.

_Liz, what the hell should I do? I have no idea where he keeps them._ Kyle turned around to the wide expanse of the throne room.

Liz closed her eyes. She reached out with a tendril from her mind. The brilliant pulse of the Granolith called to her. With a gasp, she felt the presence within.

She knew then that the Granolith was on the verge of something. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to explore it. Liz did have time to follow the link from the column to the faint echoes in the throne room. Two slivers in Max's hand, then behind a holo-vid of Khivar, the other three were hidden in a hollowed out area in the wall. No real protection. No one who had lasted this long in Khivar's court would dare steal from him.

She showed Kyle and focused on Khivar again. Kyle reached through the vid, which flickered. He pulled three polished and razor-sharp knives from the opening.

"You know, it all started with these," Khivar said as Kyle handed them over. "My grandfather, he knew that they would grant great power to the bearer. You do know they aren't just symbolic blades?"

He barely waited for the acknowledgement from Max.

"They contain pieces of the Granolith and were used to blood bond the planets together, to bind the royal families to the spirit of the people and guarantee their rule. Your previous incarnation was bound with just such a blade before it came into my protection as the Senate Speaker," Khivar continued. He stepped closer to the group in front of the door and further from the heavily panting Tess. Her focus was on her son and the labor pains racking her small frame every few minutes- not what Liz needed for her plan. Tess couldn't mindwarp Khivar, but she needed to be out of the line of fire.

"You are not a member of the royal family," Max said in a cold voice, a hand wrapped around each blade.

"There's an Earth expression Neekol's reports mentioned, I believe it's a 'chicken or the egg,' question, Zan," Khivar took one of the knives in his hand and neatly sliced the inside of his arm. He took another and repeated it on the opposite arm. "Were you bound because you were royal or royal because of the blade's binding. There's a reason the mystics had to confirm the royals. Until the power of the Granolith sealed the bond, they really are no different from the rest of Antar, except by virtue of noble birth. The throne has changed hands many times over the centuries because the mystics deemed one heir or another inappropriate to receive the royal binding."

The pieces of Khivar's plan finally clicked for Liz. Everything he had done was to reach his goal.

"Your family was one of the ones overthrown," Liz said as Khivar ran the third blade across his forehead, drawing a thin line of blue blood. It began to trickle down his face.

"Always the smart one, L'arala," Khivar sneered. "We were the first family. We ruled this system for centuries. This palace, this throne- it should have been mine! All the powers of the House of Antar were destined for me. My family wasn't 'suitable' according to the original mystics. When our ancestors began the monarchy, my family was cast out. And our rightful power greatly diminished."

He beat his chest with surprising force. Streaks of blood spattered across his shirt.

"But now, I have the blades, all of them, you've been good enough to bring me the Granolith and I've taken care of the little problem of a confirmation by the mystics. There is no one left to object to my rule," he reached his hand out. "You have no more chances, Zan. Hand over the remaining knives and I'll be merciful. I'll let you and your little harem live out your piddling lives on a nice, isolated planet away from the trade routes."

"Your word?" Max flipped the knives carefully, gripping the blade and moving the hilt toward Khivar. If Khivar took one more step toward the door, Tess and Kyle would be mostly out of range.

"My word is my bond," Khivar solemnly lied. With a step forward, he seized the blades. Done with his posturing and exposition, he sliced the palm of his left hand, then his right. He slipped them alongside the others nestled in his belt.

"Kill Ava immediately if any of they come toward me," he ordered Kyle. Then he turned around to face the throne, closed his eyes and started to chant.

_Now,_ Liz told Michael. He responded by heating the molecules near Khivar, creating heat around his still form. Khivar's eyes flew open. Michael watched, trying to anticipate what power Khivar thought he would manifest. The bleeding tyrant reached a hand out, palm up.

Michael guessed and created a small fireball in Khivar's hand. A wicked smile appeared on his face.

"It worked," he whispered. Khivar looked around the room and selected one of his guards, drew his arm back and attempted to whip the flame at the man. It flew across the room, straight at the shocked soldier.

Liz felt Michael's horror and hesitation as he let the flame disappear right before it struck. Khivar snarled and tried again. Michael produced another fireball, but Liz knew he couldn't help kill someone in cold blood and the fire went out before it hit anyone. Two of the soldiers fled, leaving only two guards and better odds for the Roswell group.

Max had edged just close enough when Khivar cursed and raised his hands toward the ceiling, trying to conjure something else. Michael created an arc of electricity, but Khivar nearly spat.

"Lies! You'll pay for this treachery," Khivar hissed. He whirled to face Max, who was a moment from wrapping his hands around Khivar's neck. Recognition lit Khivar's eyes. "You wasted your one bargaining chip. I'll kill you all and find the real blades after I hang your corpses for a second time."

He easily batted Max away and reached for one of the knives from his belt.

Panic raced through Liz as she realized her plan had failed completely.

She looked around for a weapon while Max fought Khivar. She moved toward the shards of glass near Tess and Kyle.

Michael dove into the fight, barreling into Khivar's knees from behind.

Khivar fell and Michael rolled to the side, dragging Max with him. Liz saw blood streaked across Max's face and arms, but couldn't tell where it was coming from.

With a growl, Khivar rose again. Liz had scooped up one of the shards when she felt someone grab her from behind, an arm around her waist and another wrapped almost too tight around her neck. She dropped her makeshift weapon.

"No," one of the guards ordered from behind her. He pulled her, kicking and grunting, to the ground. The other one was headed for Max and Michael as Isabel, Alex and Maria joined the fray.

Touches of gray edging her vision and her lunging burning for air, Liz touched the Granolith with her mind, asking the presence she had felt earlier to help them.

_Please, please, please, please,_ her mind begged. _Help us, we're spoiling it all over again. Fix it, please! Please!_

Liz felt herself go limp, still half-conscious but unable to get her body to respond. The guard dropped her and drew a weapon to join the fight. Liz managed to flutter her eyes open enough to see the guards about to fire on Isabel and Alex as Khivar faced Max with the blade drawn. Michael lay crumpled on the floor with Maria bent over him.

The scene froze. Liz forgot about the need to breathe as the Granolith filled her again. A moment of serenity overcame her and the rest of them in the midst of the battle. Liz knew at that moment that they hadn't spoiled anything. That the Granolith was just waiting for the right moment.

It and its power had worked all of these events into place. It had put them all together again. It knew exactly what Khivar wanted.

And the Granolith would give it to him.

Chapter 24b 

The Granolith's power filled the room. It paused in the eight Roswellians, lingering for a moment in each of them, then poured into Khivar.

The man fell to his knees and seemed to age many years in that one moment. His face grew gaunt and became lit with a strange glow. Hysterical laughter bubbled from him. With a scream, he stared at his hand. The cuts had healed and his arms were sizzling with power. In fact, his whole body was crackling with his.

No longer was his mind white noise. Liz could feel his thoughts, like insects crawling through her psyche. A bleeding of power, rage, insanity, ecstasy and greed.

Reflexively, Liz put her hands over her ears and pulled her shields up tight. Realizing she could move again, crawled toward Max. She spared a glance at Michael, whose head was in Maria's lap but still breathing, looking more dazed than injured. Kyle held Tess, who was watching Khivar without blinking.

He screamed again and kept screaming. The power wasn't ending, it continued to build and build. His body was now shaking and his hands were over his ears, like Liz.

Their eyes wide with horror, the guards dropped their weapons and fled the room. Khivar curled into a ball like a helpless child. Out of air, he gasped, then gurgled. He tore at his skin and ripped out his hair, throwing large chunks to the ground even as it grew back in.

Khivar spasmed suddenly and the power burst from him, rising up and out of the room. Liz felt it return to the Granolith.

Khivar stayed on his knees, his body spent. His muscles were gone, his skin in tatters and the wisps of hair left were white. He gave a crazed smile with shattered teeth, looking so old.

"So that is the feel of power," Khivar said in a cracked whisper.

"It's your one and only taste," Liz answered. She got to her feet, pulled Max with her, his wounds healed. They clasped hands as Michael and Maria, and Isabel and Alex followed suit. The three pairs stood before him. "You are not worthy."

She turned to Max. Her words were not quite hers, as though she were an avatar for a higher power. "The decision is yours. What's to be done with him?"

"He can't be free," Max shook his head. "There's far too much blood on his hands."

"Is the righteous Zan ready to take a life?" Khivar grinned up at Max with his broken smile. Hesitation played across Max's features, knowing that Khivar needed to be out of the picture, but still not quite able to end his life.

Before Max could make a move, Khivar's eyes rolled up and he fell to the floor.

"I am," Tess, her face pale and her limp curls plastered to her cheek, twisted and then dropped her hand from the end of a sharp end of mirror. The conflict that had spanned a generation ended with a final shuddering breath from Khivar. His body fell in on itself, then collapsed into a pile of ash.

Tess shook and Kyle moved forward just as she sank to the ground.

"We need to get her out of here," Kyle turned to Max.

Get her to the ship," Max ordered as he scooped up the blades left in Khivar's ashes. Without flinching at his tone, Kyle scooped Tess up and left the room. The walls began to shake, cracks spidering down them. The others quickly followed.

Liz gave one last look at the throne room, it's once joyful history now marred by all the pain, the death and the tragic mistakes of her people. She felt a tug of her hand.

"Are you ready?" With a concerned look, Max stood, waiting for her.

"Yes, I'm ready," Liz answered. She turned to Max and, without another look back, ran with him to the transport pod.

When they tumbled in, Michael slammed the door shut and they began to rise. Kyle moved Tess into the medical compartment at the back, sliding a set of privacy doors closed with a metallic snap.

Max opened the console where the small weapons store was and put the knives inside, out of sight.

"You know, guys, there's one thing we did forget to tell you," Isabel announced from her position curled up against Alex. Liz gave her a blank look, then caught Maria's grin.

"We weren't just wandering the palace when you decided you needed us to get that blade from where Kale stashed it," Maria put a hand on Michael's thigh. "We were doing some important stuff, too."

Isabel fished through one of the pockets in her ensemble. She handed Max a tablet like the Antarian book Tess had retrieved from the library on Earth.

"What is it?" Liz leaned over and realized that she could read it. It was in ancient Antarian. "By the blessing of the mystics and the spirit of the people, the High King Zan of Antar requested the hand of Princess L'arala of B'ril…"

"The original edict- the marriage request," Max lit up as it sank in. He grabbed Liz, lifting her slight frame into his arms. "We have it. They'll know. We can prove that everything was a huge mistake. "

Liz took advantage of the added height Max had given her to wrap her arms around him and lean in for a kiss. One that didn't end for several minutes and likely would have led to more if they there weren't two other couples watching.

Looking slightly sheepish, Liz slid to her feet.

"We're very happy about this," she said lightly. Max led her to the seat they'd shared on the trip to Antar. He wrapped an arm around her waist, not willing to completely let her go. Liz whispered, "We'll have to celebrate later."

The ship followed its course back to B'ril with a smooth flight for several minutes. Happy and tired, no one seemed interested in making conversation. Liz closed her eyes for a long stretch and leaned against Max.

"Uh, guys," Alex shot up. Isabel looked annoyed at losing her comfy position. "Isn't Tess giving birth right now? Shouldn't we be pacing or looking for cigars or something?"

"Crap," Michael headed for the medical bay doors. He opened them with a wave and the pod filled with a plaintive wail.

Tess lay on the med table, looking tired, sweaty, but very happy. Kyle held his son and with a wave of his hand cleared away the afterbirth. He wrapped a thick cloth around the baby and handed him to Tess. She cradled the tiny one, running one finger along his cheek.

"Hey, there," she whispered before delivering a kiss on his red forehead. "Welcome to the world, Zander James Valenti."

She tilted her head toward Kyle. "If that's okay with you?"

"Hey, I'm just happy to be a dad," Kyle grinned wildly. "I can live with Zan if Max doesn't want it for his and Liz's kids."

Max and Liz exchanged a glance.

"Zan is all yours," Max answered. "I think we're ready to let it go."


	21. Epilogue

It's over. This is the end. I'd like to thank everyone who managed to make it to the end with me. This is the longest fanfic I have ever undertaken and definitely the most elaborate universe I have ever concocted.

Thank you for the feed back, thank you for reading, thank you to those of you who sent emails that busted my butt into finished this thing. I enjoyed writing and I hope you enjoyed reading.

Mariah

**Epilogue:**

As the ship traveled along its course, Liz glanced out the window of the viewing station in her office. When not fleeing psychotic aliens or on accidental trips across the galaxy, the trip was actually beautiful and fairly calm.

Except for the bickering Michael and Maria had settled back into. Well, it was a little different from their previous tiffs because Maria now had a tendency to light Michael's hair on fire if he truly pissed her off.

Reasons for her annoyance included Michael's grumbling that the Granolith had not only rewritten her DNA, it had increased the bossiness quotient substantially.

The volatile couple amused Liz and Max most of the time, but they sent the royal staff maintaining the huge ship into fits. It was worse when one of the poor crew found them necking- or worse- in various parts of the ship.

Liz leaned back in her seat, temporarily ignoring the speech she was revising for the hundredth time and focusing on the overwhelming beauty just out the window.

Her eyes refocused on her faint reflection. A hand went up to her hair, smoothing the already neat strands down.

It was still disconcerting- the deep indigo hue her hair now held. Even more so was the violet tint her eyes had taken on and with the slight loss of the whites around them. Her vision much stronger, her hearing better and her taste buds definitely different, Liz blinked and again wondered how much of her the Granolith had changed. What was left of the girl who had left Earth mostly-human a year ago?

"I told you, you look more beautiful than ever," Max's deep voice came from behind her.

Liz straightened and a blush stole over her. She recalled that her blushes tended to appear blue instead of red and the problem weighed her down again.

"That's not it," Liz muttered. She knew that Max thought she was pretty. Just as his purple-tinted hair and altered eyes just made him that much more attractive to her.

All of their group had had their appearances changed by the Granolith. A week after its power went through them, after they had slept for a few days and begun processing memories and relearning their powers, they at last noticed what was going on. Maria still checked for antenna once in a while when she thought no one was looking.

"What is it then?" Max sat down and took her hands.

"I'm just afraid," she finally looked at him. "I'm not the same person. I'm not just Liz, small town girl from Roswell, New Mexico, any more. I'm worried what my parents are going to think when they see me. And I'm more worried about how I can be both L'arala and Liz with them. Plus, I'll never be able to explain being a mystic without sounding completely nuts. I, I just don't know if they'll understand."

"Liz," Max kissed her knuckles gently. "I'd be surprised if they _did _understand right away. We're coming back after mysteriously disappearing for more than a year, as the royal representatives of an entirely new planetary system with some totally Star Trek technology, like Maria says. Plus, we're getting married without finishing high school."

Liz smiled as she reflexively looked at the diamond ring on her left hand. Engagement rings weren't really part of the Antarian or B'ril traditions, so very few people other than Maria, Isabel and Tess understood why she constantly gestured with that hand and could chatter for hours about the small piece of jewelry.

"We're high school dropouts, Max," Liz sighed.

"Technically, if you include our past lives now that we remember them, we both hold doctorates from the finest Antarian University," Max pointed out.

"I don't think that will make much of an impression on my parents," Liz let go of Max's hands and closed the screen with her speech.

They'd visited each of the planets in the Antarian system and a number of new trade partners on the first leg of their journey. Now, they were very near Earth.

In fact, they'd basically been in a very wide orbit for a week and change while Liz gathered her courage and they negotiated with the proper Earth authorities.

"Well, we dealt with the potential disapproval of billions of our citizens and we made it through. They consider us married and good role models. Did Noril tell you how many girls have been named Elizabeth on B'ril?"

Liz smiled. That was the only time Liz had been particularly grateful for the Granolith's manipulations with their appearance. They looked just enough like their people to gain some initial trust. And with their triumph over Khivar and Tess and Kyle's potential heir, the people embraced them enthusiastically. The few die-hard Royalists would be swayed eventually.

"I know. There are now 405 Elizabeths on B'ril and 547 on Antar. Maria has the lead on me on B'ril with 502 Marias born last year. And I'm sure Isabel is counting, too."

Max watched Liz straighten her desk- mostly double-checking the rows of vials tightly sealed with soil samples and seedlings she'd been working on before he came in.

Only part of their work for their worlds was diplomatic. Over the last year, they had rebuilt the growth formula that L'arala and Zan had devised in their first life. It had already been implemented with great success on Antar and they were tinkering with its application for Earth's agriculture.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish Kyle and Tess had come with us," Max said. He and Kyle had become good friends and Liz and Tess, not quite as close as true sisters, were steadily rebuilding their friendship. "Michael and Maria are busy being… well, themselves, with cabin fever. With Alex and Izzy are down there breaking the ice for us on Earth, it's been pretty quiet. Plus, I miss Zander."

"Me, too," Liz smiled. It was definitely fun being Aunt Liz and Uncle Max. But parenting responsibilities and the need to keep at least one royal couple on planet bound them to B'ril for this trip, much to Kyle's disappointment.

Liz glanced at the holo-vid on her desk of the eight of them on the day of their coronations, Max and Liz as high king and queen of Antar and Tess and Kyle as high queen and king of B'ril. Michael returned to the position of Prime for Antar while Isabel surprisingly stepped up to be Prime for B'ril. Maria seemed content to wear the crown of princess and perform some of the more public royal functions Liz didn't like in the least. Alex began teaching Isabel all he knew and proclaimed a temporary early retirement, at least until he got bored.

She and Max headed to the two-room suite they had shared for the duration of the trip. Liz flipped on a vid screen, snuggled up to Max and tried to get the ship to pick up a satellite news feed from Earth.

After a few minutes of a fuzzy CNN broadcast, the image of Noril cut into the screen.

"Lady L'arala, Lord Zan, we need you in the communications bay," announced their captain. The only person Kathana claimed she would trust to care for them on this journey. "The people of Earth have decided on a representative and are ready to speak with you."

Liz sighed, happy the wait was over, but her nerves building again.

"Thank you, Noril, we'll be right there," Max snapped the screen off and they changed quickly into formal attire.

His fiancé opened one of the drawers and with a quiet giggle pulled two light, silver woven crowns out. Max bent down and Liz put his on him, then he returned the favor before scooping up Liz's tablet, synced to the speech in her desk computer files.

As they entered the comm room where most of the crew, as well as Maria and Michael, were gathered. Liz went to Maria, suddenly more nervous than before.

"What'll you pay me not to streak, yelling 'hi, Mom,' at all those important Earth people?" Maria asked with a grin. Her newly cat-like eyes made her look a little too like the Cheshire cat.

"Maria, I love you," Liz gave her a hug while Max and Michael began a deep discussion about some hockey game Michael had managed to get on the vids. "Are you sure you don't want to give this speech?"

"Um, no. If you're looking for a singer or a party planner or someone dance with very clumsy diplomats at boring social functions, I'm your girl. Speeches before billions, that's your side of things. Me and Spaceboy are definitely here just for the moral support. And the free ride home," a forlorn expression flitted across Maria's face. "I mean, to Earth."

Maria glanced at the image of Earth on the monitor. "I think I understand that whole you can never really go home again thing."

"I know," Liz nodded.

"But I am looking forward to seeing my mom," Maria announced with a goofy smile. "Since she and Jim tied the knot while we were gone, Kyle told me to ask if they wanted to come back with us for a grandparent visit with Zander."

"That sounds great," their conversation was interrupted by the announcement that the transmission was almost ready.

Liz and Max moved forward, toward the seats in the center. Max took Liz's hand and squeeze.

_Thank you,_ came Max's gentle mental whisper. _For believing in me, for being there and for doing this. For loving an alien in the middle of Roswell._

_Thank you for that day in the Crashdown, _Liz responded _And every day after that._

Liz gave Max one last kiss for good luck and an intense flash overcame her. She saw a long stretch of future, a small wedding on Earth, Queen Kathana at last surrounded by grandchildren- two of which had Max's amber eyes and two of which sported her violet gaze. Her parents, the Parkers, learning to love something other than normal. A long road, difficult with some sorrow but much love. A new line of mystics and the rejuvenation of both of her homes. And many years with Max by her side. Liz smiled.

"Liz, are you okay?" Max asked quietly. Everyone in the room seemed to be looking at her worriedly. Liz realized she was still leaning toward Max.

"I'm fine, I'm completely fine," she answered, sitting back in her seat. Liz took the tablet from Max, but she had the speech virtually memorized. The man at the controls gave her a clear nod to begin.

"Good day, people of Earth. I am Queen L'arala, High Mystic of Antar. I'm also Liz Parker of Roswell, New Mexico and three years ago I died. But then the really amazing thing happened. I came to life..."

The End


End file.
